TF Prime: Shattered Glass
by Crush48
Summary: Optimus and Arcee leap through the GroundBridge to find a plane of existence where the ally is the enemy, and the enemy is the ally. Can Optimus and Arcee reach Megatron and the noble Decepticons before Optimus' corrupt counterpart and his twisted Autobots gets to them?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story came to me after reading some stuff on Shattered Glass on the Transformers Wiki. I thought, "Hey, a shattered glass plot for the (Prime) Universe! Neat-o! So this is the result. Hope you like it.**

**Chapter 1**

**Seeing Double**

With the way the battle was going today, Optimus and his team would be able to retrieve enough Energon to last a few megacycles. That was good. Their supply wasbeginning to dwindle, and the mine that was located on the monitor at base was chock full of it. The only downside was that the decepticons had also spotted it on their radar. Everyone was sure that it had to be Soundwave's efforts. Bumblee could swear that he had eyes in the earth if that was possible.

Bumblebee and Arcee were currently retreating back toward the GroundBridge, the yellow mech holding a processing machine that could store tons of unrefined Energon. As his frame was overall more sturdy, he offered to old the device containing the cybertronian lifeblood while Arcee took the rear, laying down cover fire as she followed him. Optimus and Bulkhead were slowly withdrawing as they stayed strong with a frontal assault aimed at Megatron and his bigger sentries, the insecticons. To the duo's left, Smokescreen flanked the decepticons who were planning to dothe same to Optimus and Bulkhead. With the help of the _Phase Shifter_, he easily dispatched vehicon after vehicon and managed to stun the excess of Insecticons.

"Smokescreen. You may now withdraw. We have secured the Energon," Optimus called into his comm. There was silence before crackling static was heard. Smokescreen was patching in.

"Roger that boss! On my way!" With his proclamation, Smokescreen launched a missle from his arm before subsequently converting into his alt mode, a high speed sports car. The missle hadn't inflicted significant damage as it hadn't hit anyone head-on, but the airborne grounders and insecticons (Who weren't flapping their wings) was a testament to the effective splash damage that it caused. This afforded Prime and Bulkhead to high tail it right behind Smokescreen.

"Not this time, Prime. If you survive, there won't be Energon for you!" the Dark Lord, Megatron shouted confidently at Optimus' retreating vehicle form. Megatron was currently on a rocky formation that overlooked the GroundBridge that had materialized a distance down the cliff. With practiced precision, Megatron aimed his mighty fusion cannon mounted on his arm to sight in on Optimus' retreating form. But then, he noticed the yellow scout retreating with the Energon container. Everyone knew that Energon was volatile when reacting with anything flammable.

Arcee nearly reached the end of the tunnel and looked behind her to see Bulkhead and Optimus coming in. But something had caught her eye. A glint of sunlight bouncing off of metal, on a far off cliff.

Her Optics widened when she realized that Megatron was aiming right at them. Without a second thought, she turned around and waved her arms to urge Prime and Bulkhead forward.

"Bulkhead, Optimus, hurry! Megatron's aiming at you!" She shouted, hoping her voice would urge them forward. The two mechs kept moving forward and Optimus turned his head to see. Sure enough, a muffled boom was heard before Megatron's arm mounted cannon released a concentrated blast of Nuclear Energy.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion for Arcee, as the energy released from Megatron's cannon zeroed in on their location, all of them save Smokescreen, who was the first through, halfway through the GroundBridge.

She noticed that Bumblebee had just entered the silo when she warned Optimus of the shot Megatron took. Optimus' face took on a mask of fierce determination. It had only been two seconds since Optimus had entered the GroundBridge. No matter how fast he and Bulkhead could manage to run, the shot would hit someone.

But he could still change the outcome of who it would hit. That who would be Prime himself.

Stopping to turn, Optimus readied both arms, the servos now retracted, and in their place, two broadswords.

"Arcee, GO!" Optimus ordered, noticing her straggling behind. There wasn't much she could do in a situation like this, and unfortunately, in her mind, she realized this. Turning to retreat into the silo, where all of the Autobots were now inside, she risked one last glance to see the blast from Megatron's cannon impacting Optimus' swords.

"Wait a minute," she observed quickly. The GroundBridge tunnel reacted violently the moment that blast had entered into the portal entrance. Energies were becoming unstable, and Arcee attempted a jump for the other side.

"Arcee!" she could hear Smokescreen's concerned shout as he tried to make a reach for her. But he was already too far from the portal to make an effective rescue. Abruptly, the direct passage between where she stood and the silo had closed off. Turning completely around, Optimus was picking himself up off the ground. He grunted halfway through, but retracted his swords after standing to full height. He noticed the predicament they were in now. Turning to the direction they were attempting to escape, the portal to that side was already closed to the point where he could not make it through, lest he lose limbs and possibly offline in the process. Unfortunately, he thought, Arcee would not be ab;e to fit through either. Only someone of Jack's, or the other humans' statures could fit through without difficulty.

"I guess this it then," Optimus heard Arcee say from beside him. Her optics were closed, and he wondered briefly if she was already accepting the possibility of being offlined. He exhaled calmly from where he stood. A prime could not show weakness in front of others, for those others' benefit. They could still see hope that way. And he would make sure that optimism would still be present, even if these were their final hours.

"As unpredictable as this situation could be, their can be a way," he said simply. There was nothing else he could say. Would say. The time in the frozen arctic was different. There was still an obvious chance with the GroundBridge saving them. But now, it seemed the GroundBridge would be their end.

"We may still survive this yet," Optimus amended, confidence returning at the sight of their SpaceBridge prison suddenly opening on one side. It was fluctuating, widening and contracting. And it was situated too high for Arcee to reach.

"Arcee, look," he said, pointing to the fluctuating opening. "Jump on to my shoulder," he added. He kneeled down onto one knee to afford her a convenience of leaping on.

"Ok, now I feel like Jack," she commented offhandedly, as Optimus rushed forward and successfully leaped through.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: This story came to me after reading some stuff on Shattered Glass on the Transformers Wiki. I thought, "Hey, a shattered glass plot for the (Prime) Universe! Neat-o!" So this is the result. Hope you like it.**

**Oh and to answer the review, TimeLordBud, this will follow the Prime Continuity still, with reverse roles, etc. and some twists, and Arcee and Optimus' presence there will cause the story to go even more AU. There willbe uses of Dark Energon among other things. Hope you and others enjoy!**

**Chapter 2**

**A twisted Mirror**

As it was now apparently safe, and they were no longer trying to jump through dangerous portals, Arcee quickly climbed down from Optimus' back, making a show of dusting off one of her shoulder plates.

"Next time, Optimus, don't ever suggest that again." Arcee shook her head as Optimus simply smiled, amused at Arcee's embarrasment and mask of bravado.

"Of course," Prime answered, looking around. He found that they were in the same spot from where they vacated when they entered the portal. The cliff that Megatron had stood over only moments before now lay abandoned. It was still daylight out, and the road that lay off to the side was devoid of vehicles and people. They made it back safely.

"It appears that we exited through where entered the GroundBridge," Prime assessed, loud enough for Arcee to hear. She nodded and transformed into her motorcycle form.

"Let's not call for a GroundBridge. I'm probably going to be staying away from them for a few cycles," she admitted. She revved her engines, signifying she was ready to take off for base. Optimus acquiesced and shifted into his Truck form. They were unseen as they drove through the canyon and entered the road.

"Optimus Prime to base," he called through the open comm channel. No response. Not even a crackle of static to identify that he was even operating on the correct channel.

"Outpost Omega-1. Do you copy?" he repeated his command. No response. If he could in his current form, he would have sighed with worry.

"No response?" Arcee asked. Her motorcycle form continued to drive parallel to him, and the rock formation that was their base was nearing.

"No. I fear that something may have gone wrong at base," he finally said after slight hesitation. The rock formation was mere meters away now, and they passed through the holographic entrance, to the naked eye, looking as though they passed right through solid rock.

"Something doesn't feel right. The whole inside of the base looks all out of whack," Arcee observed as they drove deeper through the tunnel. Her comment was an understatement. The "tunnel" in fact did not look at all like the granite street they had just drove from on the road. The ground looked like cybertronian flooring, and along the walls were wires that were thirty to fourty meters wide in length.

"By the AllSpark..." Optimus breathed in an uncharacteristic show of bafflement. Simultaneously, they both entered their robot modes. They had better view of the impossibility before them.

Arcee had walked forward, past Optimus, to examine closer the large room-formation, Arcee thought to be more fitting-before them.

"It looks like the side of a ship crashed here," she said in a mystified sort of tone. The large space with all of the equipment here gave the impression that the ship had to be _huge_. And the only ship she knew to be as large as this was

"The Ark," Optimus said aloud, voicing Arcee's thought. "But that's impossible," Arcee argued. The Ark was totally destroyed shortly after getting here. The _Nemesis' _Turbolasers made sure of that. She saw to her left large medbays that were far beyond the technology they usually saw in Ratchet's care. The machines here were completely cybertronian in nature. To her right was a large monitor. And in place of the screen she and Optimus usually saw here was a visual display easily dwarfing it.

"Teletraan-1," Arcee said, walking over to it, but not pressing anything. There wasn't anything she could think of typing at the moment. Optimus, meanwhile, was just as mystified, but looked more collected as he examined their surroundings. But one thing did not add up.

"How is the Ark suddenly here? And where is the rest of the team?" he inquired more to himself, although he spoke it aloud. He knew Arcee would not have an answer merely because the events unfolding before them contradicted natural laws. The Ark was destroyed. Wiped from existence, yet here it is. And everything inside this once missle silo, now Ark Starship shelter is of advanced, purely cybertronian technology.

"This does not add up. Arcee, stay close. Something is amiss," Optimus ordered, an official tone in his voice. He was serious, and so was she. This reminded Arcee of a show that Jack used to tell her about. The Twilight Zone, was it?

"So there I am, on a lookout, when out of nowhere these highbeams light up my rear-view..."

Both Arcee and Optimus heard it, and Arcee was beginning to feel uneasy. More than she should be. That sounded just like...she quashed the thought from her mind, she looked to Optimus for guidance. He made a hand gesture and pointed to the far off wall in the large room. Because of all the machinery lying around the large cockpit, Optimus now knew, the towering inanimate objects splayed shadows all across one side of the large space. That's where they would hide for the time being. They both raced across the room and into the shadows. From the lack of light, both their frames blended with the darkness and only two sets of optics could be seen.

"Optimus, was th-"

"Dim your optics," Optimus interrupted, Arcee doing as he said. Both their Optics gave off less light, and now one would not be able to spot them unless actively searching the area. Arcee had to admit, Optimus was pretty stealthy when he wanted to be.

Optimus strained his audio receptors to listen in on the voice he had heard. No doubt Arcee had also heard, if her would-be question was any indication. The voice was male in nature and it seemed to be rising and lowering in volume. Whoever he was talking to, the they were moving varying distances from the room he and Arcee were hiding in.

"Is that Cliff?" Arcee asked, also concentrating on what was being said. However, the conversation must have ended because she couldn't hear anything.

"I'm gonna check it out," Arcee declared quietly before dashing out of her hiding place, mindful of staying within the shadows. Optimus could not whisper a warning of not doing so, for she had already split off a fair distance. Her skills as a scout were almost unmatched, but her impulsiveness was not a welcome trait in a place like this, especially with all of the unanswered questions as to what here was exactly. So he could only cautiously follow behind her, careful to not cause any noises with his larger frame as he rushed as quickly as he dared to the direction Arcee was going.

"Arcee, that was unwise," Optimus began to say before she cut him off. She pointed to a room to his side, simply uttering "Look," and Optimus scrunched his back as far back as he could to the wall they were situated in front of. For now, they were safely hidden in the shadows still. Craning his head and following the direction her finger pointed, he saw what unnerved Arcee so. Farther down the hall yet to be explored by the duo was Cliffjumper himself, in an ongoing conversation with someone they couldn't see. The other person carrying on the dialogue was yet to be seen, the red Autobot facing the entrance to another room or hallway. Before Optimus could stop her, Arcee exited her hiding place and began to walk straight towards Cliffjumper.

Again with her impulsiveness. But he could not find any reason _not _to continue staying hidden. Against his better judgement, Optimus began to follow.

"Cliff, where have you been?" Arcee demanded, picking up her pace to reach the red colored bot. The autobot in question turned his head, an unidentifiable expression passing his face. Arcee was still in the same hallway, and could not see who he kept stealing glances at, as he tried to come to grips with something. Finally, he turned to his unseen dialogue partner.

"Did Shockwave get ahold of our CNA data?"

"Cliff, what are you going on about?" Arcee gestured in confusion. First, Cliff goes missing. Well, more like dead. She had buried him. And now he was suddenly alive and well in some Ark hangar where the missle silo should have been, and he was looking at _her _like there was something off about _her_. Then another thought came to her.

"Where is everyone else? Where's Jack?"

Before she could understand what was happening, the mysterious one that Cliffjumper was initially talking to turned the corner. She looked just like her and downed her with a single blast. Before blacking out, she could hear Optimus' surprised grunt. He had been downed too.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: The Decepticons will make an Appearance! :O By the way, Later on in the chapter, to better differentiate the two Arcees, the evil one will be dubbed RC.**

**Chapter 3**

**The Twist**

"So, any expla-" Arcee could hear rivulets of conversation, but in her half-conscious state, she couldn't understand what was being said.

"Had to-" Another dizzy spell.

"-ybe Ratchet can-" Although her processor was mostly swimming in unconsciousness, she could hear snippets of sentences.

"-Bly Shockwave..."

With a start Arcee shot up from her prone position, with a sudden intake of breath, on what looked like a medberth. She stood up, or at least tried to. Her wrists and calves were bound. She couldn't get any higher than raising her torso and her head. The cuffs were stopping any further movement. Looking to her right then her left, the moments before being knocked into stasis came back to her. This odd base where the Silo should have been, seeing Cliff, then...Arcee shook her head. Did she just get shot by a copy of herself? None of this was making any sense, and her recollection of what actually happened only served to, for a lack of a better word, creep her out. Looking to her left again, she could see Optimus Prime in a parallel situation. Larger cuffs were restraining his own wrists and legs to a medberth that he was confined to also. He must have awoken before her, as he didn't seem to have been struggling against the restraints.

"Arcee, are you all right?" Prime asked, concerned. He had noticed her awakening when she first attempted to get up.

"Fine as I can be in a situation like this. Who were the people talking earlier?" she asked. Although, she had a feeling she already knew.

"It was indeed Cliffjumper...and...you," he said slowly. From the tone of his voice, he seemed to barely believe what he was saying. Indeed, it did sound ridiculous.

"What?" was Arcee's perfectly well-thought out response. Optimus looked away and blinked before returning his gaze to her.

"Yes. It was Cliffjumper and you...but, everything here is twisted," he clarified. Arcee continued to stare at him, and Optimus attempted to better explain.

"The two that were here...they behave to a decepticon standard. As though...the Autobots here are...evil."

"Definitely Twilight Zone."

"What was that?" Optimus asked, not understanding the statement.

"It's nothing. So what is this, like evil twins of the people we know?" Arcee ventured. She knew the question was a moot point. Optimus basically spelled it out.

"Yes," was all he said in reply. Moments had passed and then they noticed several autobot soldiers passing by the room in an adjacent hallway. Optimus frowned upon seeing them. That only served to confirm his suspicions.

"They look like vehicons," Arcee said aloud, voicing his thoughts.

"This is just as I feared. Since moments ago, I suspected we have entered a...parallel plane of existence."

That was just real fraggin' neat-o, Arcee thought sarcastically.

"I see that the two...imposters are now out of stasis," a voice said from the shadows. Optimus and Arcee shared a glance before looking in the direction the voice originated.

"Show yourself," Optimus ordered. To their surprise, out stepped Ratchet.

"This is most interesting," the Ratchet look-alike observed of the two of them as he stepped over to the nearby Teletraan-1 computer.

"You're voice synaptic and it's timbre, even down to enunciation match the original's perfectly. The both of you," he said. Obviously, he was impressed, and even more obviously, he believed they were clones of the 'originals'.

To Arcee, _this _Ratchet was definitely an 'Alternate Universe' being. Instead of the medic they knew with a white paintjob with red highlights, this Ratchet sported navy blue highlights where the red would be. And his optics were an ominous violet color.

"A purple autobot symbol?" Arcee asked dubiously. She craned her head to better see the Autobrand on Ratchet's visible shoulder. Cliffjumper and the 'other' her weren't in the room, but she could guess that the both of them probably sported the same strangely colored Autobot symbol.

"Let us down from here, Ratchet!" Arcee demanded, struggling against the restraints for emphasis. Ratchet simply chuckled in response, which Optimus found to be unsettling coming from him.

"I think not, girl. You can refer to me as your 'Doctor of Doom'. I had been waiting for some subjects for my dissection table, and finding out how Shockwave created you two, well it's a perfect oppurtunity," he responded, his right hand shifting into some scalpel looking device.

"Ratchet, if you come near me with that thing, you're going to cleaning your exhaust pipe for a week," Arcee retorted dangerously, much to the medic's amusement.

"Now, now, I can't very well study any of you now, I need to wait for the commander," he replied smoothly, leaving Optimus to frown in thought. Another Optimus Prime most likely. And given Ratchet's personality, and the implications of everything that's transpired, he was not looking forward to this meeting of his 'alternate self'. His train of thought was interrupted with the arrival of the two Autobots from earlier. Cliffjumper and Arcee.

Now that she was fully aware of her surroundings, Arcee finally got a good look at the bot across from her that looked so much like her. Was her, if the parallel universe concept was accurate enough.

"Wow, the decepticons sure were accurate enough with the looks, though the paintjob is kind of horrendous," the 'Evil' Arcee observed of the restrained one, leaning forward to study her face. Arcee was feeling uncomfortable with the violation of personal space and the mere fact of who was in her face was...well, she wouldn't continue that line of thought, lest she lose her sanity. On another thought, this other self's chassis was a dark-toned purple. Her optics were a violent scarlet, which looked very wrong to her. But the unsettling detail was the thin vertical scar that ran down the left side of her face. It looked like someone had scratched her hard enough to leave a mark. Evil Arcee stood up straight and turned to Optimus.

"Prime is actually cute in those colors," she remarked offhandedly. Arcee rolled her optics in exasperation.

"What I don't understand is the strange coloring of their Autobot symbols," Cliffjumper input, crossing his arms, looking between the two restrained autobots. He looked away nervously at Arcee's confused stare.

"I find it strange too, and I've already contacted Optimus. We'll know what to do once he arrives," Ratchet said without looking in anyone's direction. He was busy typing something on Teletraan-1.

Activating his Internal Comm, Optimus told Arcee his plan.

::Arcee, I believe it pertinent that we contact the Decepticons:: he said, completely serious. Arcee's optics widened in surprise but didn't move her face, keeping up the charade that they were silent, and not communicating.

::Optimus, any other day, I would say that's crazy, but you're right. Seeing myself, it's...bad:: she replied with a crestfallen expression. She was looking at the ground, trying not to look any of the other bots in they eyes. Optimus knew he would need to talk to her about this experience, but now was not the time to push it.

::I still have the frequency I used during my amnesia. Hopefully, this works...::

* * *

The _Nemesis _floated above the clouds, hidden from the common man's view, and cloaked from the prying optics of the Autobots. Looking out the viewport, the ship's commander contemplated events leading up to both Autobot and Decepticons ending up here, on this seemingly insignificant planet called Earth. Megatron thought the view of the clouds to be a good meditation medium, but duty calls for now, as a beep signified an incoming transmission.

"What is it?" Megatron asked in response to the patch-in.

"Lord Megatron, Soundwave has news of a transmission that may peak your interest!"

Megatron had thought it amusing that Starscream often referred to him as a 'Lord', but that was vorns ago. He did not wish for his subordinates giving him a title any more deserving than a commander. Ever since he rescued Starscream from the lab on Cybertron when Optimus began his testing on Dark Energon, the seeker became one of his most trusted lieutenants for his skill in battle and vast knowledge on scientific matters. Hence, the title that Starscream would not stop addressing him with.

Megatron's blue optics gazed one last time at the clouds. One day there would be peace, but he was unsure of when that day would come.

"I will be there shortly."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, ol' friends, ol' buddies, ol' pals! :D  
To Ardent Asper: Thanks! I try my best with matching how Optimus would speak with Peter Cullen's voice, and i'm glad you think so!  
Thanks for everyone else's reviews too! You know who you are. Btw, to differentiate Optimus and Arcee's counterparts, the evil ones shall be dubbed Nemesis Prime and RC respectively. **

**Optimus= Good, Nemesis= Bad  
Arcee= Good, RC= Bad**

**Chapter 5**

**Peace Through Extermination**

Megatron walked into the command hub of the ship. This is where most of the action occurs, from planning and statistics to implementation and combat coordination. Chatter could be heard among the throng of both officers and Eradicons. Soundwave, who was typing furiously on the computer, turned his visored head to regard his leader.

"Yo, Megatron, we got some gnarly info here. Looks suspect," Soundwave commented, standing to side to allow Megatron a better view of the incoming transmission. He widened his optics as a result.

"Optimus Prime?" Megatron asked aloud unbelieving. Him? Asking for assistance? This had to be some badly thought out trap. But there it was, Optimus' signal marker. The only strange factor was the designation code looked _reversed_.

"This makes no logical sense," Megatron muttered under his breath. There was nothing the decepticons had that would possibly benefit Optimus, minus their sparks of course. This couldn't get any more strange. And it was impossible for him to have deencrypted their coordinates. It was a genius signal masking of Soundwave's design that reroutes the signal to the indiviual initiating the search. In effect, one would unlock coordinates to their own position. Nonetheless, no harm in answering the signal, Soundwave could always just alter their signal if the need arises. Megatron nodded his head, giving the go signal for the spymaster.

"This is Megatron, what is it?" the former Gladiator demanded after the call was patched in. A crackle of static and Optimus' voice followed.

"Megatron. What I must tell you is of grave importance. But you would not believe the information if we are not face to face. Me and my partner are need of an extraction."

A rescue mission? Scratch that, it could get more strange.

"And why, pray tell, should I play along with this," Megatron retorted.

"I am currently in the Autobot base. These are the coordinates. And, by the way, Megatron, we are prisoners here."

True to his word, data began streaming across the monitor, detailing the exact location of the Ark's crashed hull.

"Righteous," Soundwave uttered in awe at the information they just recieved. Righteous indeed, Megatron reflected. With the location of the Ark now known, this evened the odds for the Decepticons. Although an aerial strike would be the most obvious choice, the only problem was that the Ark was still shielded from turbolasers.

"Knockout," Megatron said into his comm.

"What can I do for you, Megatron?" Knckout's refined voice responded dutifully.

"We have a situation. There are two...prisoners being held within the Autobot base, which a reliable source has sent us the coordinates to."

Moments later, Knockout and Breakdown emerged from the opposite hallway. Knock Out, the light, cyan colored Aston Martin Vantage carbot, held an air of chivalry. He sported scratches and scars on his chassis from past battles. He relished the thrill of a fight, something that Megatron could admire in another cybertronian. Breakdown to his right, with a navy green chassis and orange-ish faceplate. While Knockout had the customary blue optics of a decepticon, Breakdown's opaque optics were a bluish green. Noticing Megatron, he smiled at the thought of another mission.

"Just open that SpaceBridge and we'll be ready to finish this extraction in a giffy," he commented smugly.

"Yeah, hopefully, I can lay some smackdown on Bulkhead next time we meet," the Stunticon added, punching his open palm for added effect.

"That's the right spirit. Contact the bridge if you require back-up," Megatron replied with a chuckle. He nodded towards Soundwave who keyed in the new coordinates they recieved. Eagerly, Knockout and Breakdown rushed through the portal and then it closed once they passed through.

* * *

Arcee continued to struggle against the cuffs, but she was making no progress, much to her chagrin. Optimus was closely observing the strange autobots, as if storing away information for later use. She didn't know how Optimus did it. How he could remain calm in this frankly, unbelievable situation? She might as well chill out, she figured. Hopefully the 'Cons would get here in time.

'Can't believe i'm hoping the 'Cons come to resue us,' Arcee thought, just a bit appalled at the thought.

"Ratchet, open a GroundBridge."

Arcee snapped her head to Optimus, but he hadn't said anything. In fact, he seemed to be looking at the intercom system that Ratchet was standing next to. _Oh scrap._ Out of all the 'Bots here, Optimus would have to be the nastiest. It was obvious now that the Autobots were the bad guys here. She wasn't particularly keen on meeting this one.

"Frag, this is just like when we thought you went nuts on Agent Fowler," Arcee said to Optimus quietly. He exhaled in a gesture reminescent of an amused snort.

"It is refreshing to know that you still have a sense of humor," he half-joked in a retort. Seconds later, a GroundBridge swirled open, and Arcee was starting to feel sick of seeing the things.

Three figures emerged from the swirling mass. One of them was obviously Bulkhead, she could spot the green lug anywhere. Except this one wasn't green. His paintjob was a dark blue, with red optics, and Arcee thought she would never see an even slightly intimidting Bulkhead in her life. But one she didn't recognize was the black and yellow colored scout. While he did sport yellow, his primary color scheme was black. And his helmet sported slightly elongated horns.

"So these are the imposters," Optimus, -no, Optimus' evil twin, Arcee corrected-said. He was just as imposing as Optimus, only the famous red of his frame was replaced with malevolent dark violet, and the blues on the shins and iconic helm were a matte black, along with the audio receptors. And of course, burning red optics.

"Tell me, where do you hail from," he said almost conversationally, as he neared Optimus.

"A different reality," Optimus replied cryptically. The 'other' Optimus seemed to consider the notion, even so far as to place a hand to his chin, as if in deep thought. He didn't seem much different from Optimus, Arcee figured.

"Where are you going to put them?" the mysterious black and yellow mech asked from the side. He had remained oddly silent until now.

"Bumblebee?" Arcee asked instantly, the moment she heard his voice. His head snapped in her direction, as if surprised that she knew that.

"You two are too dangerous to be left alive. Did you scan them for tracking devices?" 'Nemesis' Prime asked, tilting his head questioningly in Ratchet's direction. The medic nodded once.

"Yes, they are completely clean. Do you have any further use for them before I begin?" Ratchet inquired. He had turned around to face the dreaded Autobot commander with his arms crossed.

"Prime, I don't think letting them live any longer is a good id-"

"Arcee, I will ask your opinion when I require it," the dark Leader cut in harshly. He then turned to Ratchet.

"Do with them what you will, after you test the Dark Energon on them. Then you may...upgrade them, as you wish," he replied darkly. He glanced once more at the table strapped Optimus and Arcee before vacating the room. It didn't escape Arcee's notice that her counterpart was glaring daggers at 'Nemesis' Prime's retreating back, complete with a curled lip.

"Why do you follow him?"

"What?" RC responded, turning to face the blue femme.

"I can tell that you hate him. Why bother following him?" she asked her. Scrap, she thought. This was possibly the weirdest conversation she's ever had.

"Tch. Like I'd follow Megatron? I collect trophies for a living," RC said nonchalantly, with a hint of pride. Arcee made a face before cutting off the conversation there. _I'd hate to think what Airachnid is like here._

::Hey, you two there?::

Optimus looked up upon hearing the comm. No one else seemed to react to it, so he knew it was on a private channel. It was Knock Out.

::I am here. We are inside the main hub where the medbay is located. You must hurry. I doubt we will survive much longer in the situation we are in:: Optimus urged through the internal comm, noticing Ratchet preparing to open a locked case that was holding in a purplish glow.

Well trying to get through to any of the bots was out of the question. She turned her head to see Bulkhead just standing there, stock still at attention. That looked strange. He didn't look anything like the jokester Wrecker that she knew.

::We're inside. We'll be there in about 15 seconds.::

Optimus had his doubts that 15 seconds was enough time.

"It's time for your _upgrades_," Ratchet droned. There was an almost mischievious glint in his eye, and Arcee found that very disturbing. It was worse than when Ratchet was juiced up on Synth-En.

"Ratchet, I'm warning you!" she said harshly, not deterring the mad medic in the least.

"Don't worry, I'm an emergency vehicle..."

And that's when it happened. Everything was a blur as a blue Aston Martin veering around the corner transformed into robot mode and slashed Arcee's cuffs. She instantly jumped into action and noticed that the blue car was Knockout. His paintjob wasn't what surprised her at all. The fact that there were scratches on his chassis that he seemed to not even care were there is what did. Shaking the thought from her mind, she began to race toward Optimus' position, until she saw Breakdown hammer the cuffs open.

Knockout not caring if his paintjob got scratched? Arcee couldn't believe it. What next, A totally Zen Megatron?

"Once we get on the ship or whatever base you 'Cons have, I'm going into recharge," Arcee said tiredly. All of the other Autobots trained their weapons on the Decepticons and the Autobots from another world.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, ol' friends, ol' buddies, ol' pals! :D  
To I Forgot My Name: Thanks! I hope you didn't choke too hard! ^-^;  
To Anonymous: Yes! I will use the same ol' humans! And they will be partnered up with what I hope is the appropriate decepticon!  
Thanks for everyone else's reviews too! You know who you are. Btw, to differentiate Optimus and Arcee's counterparts, the evil ones shall be dubbed Nemesis Prime and RC respectively. **

**Optimus= Good, Nemesis= Bad  
Arcee= Good, RC= Bad  
You will find out what Bumblebee's name is this chapter.  
BTW, LOL, I mislabeled last chapter as 5! This chapter is 5! Sorry for that!**

**Chapter 5**

**Noble Decepticons**

The first thing Knockout noticed upon entering the Ark's main control room, were the two prisoners cuffed in vertically slanted medberths. The second thing he noticed was that senile old Ratchet with some sort of scalpel-arm that was holding a sample of Dark Energon. The third noticeable factor was the fact that one of the two prisoners was an exact inverse copy of Optimus's scout, RC. And Optimus' clone was there too, looking, dare he say, actually heroic? After he and Breakdown slashed and smashed (Respectively) the cuffs that were restraining them, they both went into a formation, with both breakdown and Knockout covering Arcee and the 'Heroic' Optimus on either side.

"Arcee, I must say you look lovely in that color scheme," Knockout complimented with a wiggle of his brows. Arcee did not know how to respond to that. At a loss for words, she just retorted with the next best thing.

"Just get us out of here."

"Of course, m'lady," he replied smoothly. The Autobots across from them began to shoot at them, and the heroes jumped behind a convienent medberth behind them. Optimus Prime and Breakdown supplied cover fire as they had much more resilient frames.

"I suggest you call for a space bridge. I doubt _their _Optimus is going to be oblivious to this whole thing going on," Arcee said with a hint of annoyance. Knockout rolled his optics with a smile.

"If you must know, I've just sent the request." Knockout waved his arms from his hiding spot to get both Breakdown and Optimus' attention.

"This is the plan! Breakdown and I are going to fake a charge at the Autobots. That'll make them retreat a bit, giving us all time to get in the bridge without picking them up too," he said, gesturing his helm to the attackers. Everyone present nodded.

"Breakdown! Back for some more aft-kicking?" Bulkhead shouted from the side. He was furiously returning fire at both Optimus and Breakdown. The burly decepticon only growled angrily in response. Then he turned to Knockout.

"Ready, man?"

"Let's do this!" Knockout declared. Expertly leaping over the medberth with one hand, his opposite arm shifted into an energon scrapper. Aiming it one handed like a machine gun, it shot the ammo like one.

"Say hello to my little friend!" He shouted cheerfully as he began to charge them. Breakdown acted as a shield to his left, countering Bulkhead before he was able to near Knock Out. Right on cue, a SpaceBridge portal began to materialize behind Arcee and Optimus.

"They're trying to escape!" RC shouted to Cliffjumper and the Black-and-Gold mech.

"Goldbug, take them out before they get away!" She ordered the silent mech. He stalked forward with very quick speed, as he attempted to blow Prime up with a rocket. Knockout attempted to intercept RC, but she ducked under his bladed arm swing before simply punching him in the side of the face. Because of size difference, it wasn't nearly enough to offline him, but _slag _did that hurt. With a grunt, he gave chase, trying to slow her down from reaching the portal.

"You're gonna pay for what you did to my unit!" Breakdown snarled, clashing hammers with his sworn nemesis. Bulkhead gave a vicious smirk, arrogance plastered all over his face.

"Oh, really? Your former liutenant, Mixmaster? Heh. He is just a work of art hanging from my ceiling," the wrecker retorted with sick glee. With a snarl of rage, Breakdown pushed forward with his assault, the only thought on his mind being to smash Bulkhead's face in.

"When I'm done with you, you're gonna need dentures!" He shouted, punching Bulkhead in the chin with his free hand. To Bulkhead's credit, he hadn't fallen down, only having been forced to slide backwards.

Arcee had noticed her counterpart sprinting in fast and Knockout trying to give chase. Goldbug was off to RC's side and it looked like they were going to reach her and Optimus before the decepticons would.

"Optimus! We've got incoming!" Arcee shouted to Prime, readying the blades on her arms. She sprinted forward to intercept RC before she got too close. The purple femme readied her own blades without even slowing down and began to leap towards her.

"I'm going to add your head to my collection!" she snarled, her arms positioned to decapitate her right on the spot. Arcee made a disgusted face.

"The frag? I'm you! Sick!" she responded in anger. This world was twisted, upside-down, and inside-out! Her counterpart was totally insane! Leaping to the side, she roundhouse kicked her dark opposite in the face, and began their small skirmish.

Optimus noticed Goldbug's approach. From a first glance, he didn't resemble anyone. But as he neared, those naturally wide optics of the incoming mech gave away who it was. Just as Arcee had said Earlier.

"Bumblebee," he whispered. This battle was wasting valuable time. Optimus figured his counterpart would show up any minute now if they did not make haste. Readying his blaster, Optimus shot several rounds at Goldbug's shoulder, attempting to incapacitate him. Whether this was a different plane of existence or not, taking a life was taking a life. He fired several more warning shots after Goldbug evaded the first round. He was moving forward and strafing sideways to avoid the concentrated blasts. Wisely keeping his distance from the much larger mech, Goldbug began to return fire. The salvos were slower in fire rate, but the apparent damage it could cause was very much dangerous. Dodging a blast from Goldbug's gun, it fired into an overhanging girder that began to slowly rust itself. Optimus did not have time to be surprised, lest he get hit with one of the blasts.

* * *

"What's taking them so long?" Megatron demanded, checking the monitor on the _Nemesis_' control panel to confirm that all friendlies inside the _Ark _were alive and well.

"It appears that the Autobots are proving more of a challenge than we anticipated for this extraction," Starscream commented from the side. Soundwave stood beside him, typing away at the keyboard.

"Lord Megatron, I have a suggestion. We can send an audio signal burst through the Autobots' audio receptors to stun them," Starscream suggested, analyzing the situation. Megatron narrowed his optics in thought. It was a decent idea that may give the engaged Decepticons and their two new guests some time to get through the SpaceBridge.

"Brilliant idea Starscream! Soundwave, can you produce the signal burst?" Megatron inquired, looking to his third in command.

"Sir Soundwave can bring in the tunes," the visored mech replied in third-person.

* * *

Arcee was beginning to slow down in the wake of RC's furious swings. Each movement she made, she seemed intent on taking off Arcee's head. Every swing that RC missed, due to a parry or dodge from Arcee, she seemed to only grunt or snarl in response. And she didn't seem to show any signs of tiring at all.

"RC! Stop this! What the frag is wrong with you!" Arcee attempted to say something to get her to slow down at the very least. It was getting difficult to keep up with her wild fighting style. While Arcee was trained in Cybertronian martial arts, the other seemed to be fighting in some extremely aggressive style that she'd never seen before. And it was slowly chipping away at her defense. With a yell, RC executed a chop that effectively cancelled out a block that the blue fembot performed, knocking her sideways and to the ground.

"Arcee!"

She could hear Knock Out's concerned shout, obviously fearing for her life. But he wouldn't be able to save her in time. RC was already standing above her, a foot on her chest.

"You don't have to do this!" Arcee tried to convince her, but RC only licked her own lips in sick anticipation, ready to seperate her head from her neck.

_YOU GOT THE TOUCH! _

Suddenly, Arcee felt the pressure on her chest lighten as RC suddenly began to struggle to cover her audio receptors. She stumbled backwards and began hissing in pain.

_YOU GOT THE POWER! YEAAAH!_

Looking around, Arcee noticed that all of RC's allies began reacting violently in the same manner. Knockout finally reached her, and hefted her up. Breakdown soon followed, and they caught up with Optimus, who was waiting at the SpaceBridge portal.

"What's wrong with them?" Arcee asked as they all began to cross through the portal's tunnel. Their opponents were all on their knees, as though racked with a cybertronian Processor-migraine.

"Probably Soundwave and one of his crazy sound stunts," Knockout said with a shake of his helm and a smile on his face. Of course, a sound attack. No wonder they were covering their audios like that. Before she knew it, they finally crossed through, and the _Ark _base was no more and soon they were inside the familiar environment of the _Nemesis. _

They were inside of a less crowded area of the ship, presumably to allow them to acclamate to their surroundings. Strange thing, was that the _Nemesis _looked exactly how it did when sheand Optimus had been there last.

Turning a full 360, she could see the rest of the occupants of the room.

Starscream, who se noticed was standing completely straight, not slouching at all. Soundwave, who she noted looked noticeably more whitish gray in color. And then there was Megatron. He looked exactly the same, save his face was much less scarred and looked more youthful in appearance, with a pair of blue optics.

"Greetings. And welcome to the _Nemesis_," Megatron stated to their new arrivals.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: To Anonymous BW FG: My fav would definitely be Soundwave. He is very mysterious and unpredictable. His SG persona is fun to write also, lol.  
To Sakiko of Soleana: Good Question! Yes, Starscream is mostly unchanged in color except for Blue Optics.****  
To Klicks: LOL. I guess you could say that!  
Thanks everyone else also for their reviews! I read all of them. They keep me going!**

**Optimus= Good, Nemesis= Bad (Unless it's obvious which one is being referred to)  
Arcee= Good, RC= Bad**

**Chapter 6**

**Acclamation**

Wow. Primus had to be joking. Yes, he had to be. Megatron looked like one of the nicest guys you could ever meet, if that was possible for a former gladiator with a fusion cannon on his arm. His face had no scars that she remembered him having, which made him look centuries younger. His blue optics looked very strange on someone like Megatron, Arcee thought. She thought his face looked unsettlingly kind.

"Megatronus?" she heard Optimus ask. He regarded the former glaiator before him, as though seeing a throwback from the past. Thinking, she realized that this must have been what Megatron looked like before the Great War for Cybertron began.

It was crazy what jealousy could turn someone into, Arcee reflected, remembering the story Ratchet had told her and the rest of the Autobots, in their own dimension. Megatron offered a hand to Optimus, and both he and Optimus shook hands.

"Yes. But I am now known as Megatron these days. An easier name for soldiers to remember," Megatron responded with an emotion she couldn't place. "I must say, I am as confused as you two must be. To see positive reflections of what possibly could have been," he observed, glancing at Arcee before returning his gaze to Optimus. "I hear that you arrived here from...another dimension?" he questioned with a raised brow. Prime nodded once.

"Indeed. Where my comrade and I hail from, the roles of both Autobots and Decepticons are reversed. A GroundBridge accident has left us stranded here. Megatron nodded thoughtfully, proccessing this new information.

"While we do not yet know what factors may have caused your arrival here, with your assistance, we can possibly develop a way of getting you back home." Megatron then formed an amused smile.

"I take it then, that you already familiar with most of the crew?" he asked knowingly. Both Optimus and Arcee nodded. Megatron nodded again in response.

"If you are in need of any assistance, Starscream and Soundwave can assist you. Their knowledge may also help in remedying your plight. If either of you need me, I'll be in the bridge," Megatron concluded, exiting the command center.

"There's something that has been bugging me," Arcee began. "In our world, we had human charges in our base because they were in danger of...decepticons," Arcee said awkwardly. Soundwave didn't react, though he was giving his full attention, and Starscream had a raised brow.

"Do you guys have charges?"

"Why yes we do," Soundwave said nonchalantly. Arcee resisted the urge to jump in surprise. She settled on tensing up. Optimus even seemed to be slightly surprised by Soundwave's speech.

"My partner is Rafael Esquivel, short dude with glasses," he explained, continuing to type.

"I do not have a partner, although I sometimes give Ms. Nakadai rides in the air," Starscream added. Arcee had to raise a brow in surprise. Starscream, giving rides in his jet form to a hyperactive child? That's new.

"Where are they now?" Arcee asked.

"They're home right now. Luckily the Autobots don't know where they live. Not counting you two of course," Soundwave replied in a friendly tone.

"Oh," Arcee said, thinking of the concept of Decepticons having human charges.

"Jack's here, though. Somewhere on the ship with Airachnid," Starscream chipped in. Arcee's optic twitched. Jack's guardian was _Airachnid_? Focus, Arcee, she coached herself. This was an alternate universe. Airachnid is probably the nicest con you'll ever meet in this universe. It reminded her of seeing her other self back at the crashed _Ark _base. She tried not to shudder at the thought of what RC was going to do to her.

"This is just all so weird. Jack is my partner in my universe," she said aloud. There was a short silence before Soundwave spoke.

"That _is _weird."

Arcee shrugged, and Optimus decided to change the subject.

"How were you able to sonically attack the hostiles without also affecting us?" Prime asked. Because those hostiles were also Autobots of a sort, wouldn't they share the same frequency coding?

"Well, you really want to know?" Soundwave asked cryptically. Suddenly, a video materialized on the Spymaster's face-visor. The words _Youtube_ appeared and then the word _Hishe_. The sound of high-speed fast forwarding could be heard before the video was played at normal speed.

_"How did you do it, Batman?" Superman asks from his spot across the coffee table. Batman dramatically inhales in response, as though about to blow out the candles of a cake. Superman facepalms, realizing his mistake._

_"It's because your bat-"_

_"Because I'm Batman!" Batman roared triumphantly. _

_-_End of Video-

Arcee thought that was strange, but she got the gist of it anyway. Basically, this Soundwave was a prankster. She duly noted how 'Prankster' and 'Soundwave' sounded strange in the same sentence.

"But seriously though, I was able to route the frequency to specific audial signals. I'm just that good," Soundwave explained, turning back to his monitor. Optimus made an inquisitive sound, almost like an amused exhale of breath. Yeah, this world was kind of funny and weird, all right.

"So, any chance we could meet these humans?" Arcee asked. She wanted to know how different they were here. Soundwave seemed hesitant for a second, before turning his helm to her.

"Uh...I don't know. You're _other _self kinda tried to kill Jack's mom," he said apologetically. Arcee frowned. She figured that RC was crazy, but...it seemed like her and Airachnid switched roles a bit here.

"Oh," was all she could manage.

"We may result in meeting them soon anyway, with the next briefing, in figuring out how to return home. Are any of the humans adept at technology?" Optimus questioned.

"Rafael is quite tech savvy. He and Soundwave could possibly find a way to help you two," Starscream said, blue optics looking towards the ceiling in thought and a hand on his chin.

"Why don't you two stop by the medical wing, while I go and retreive the humans," Starscream suggested, to which both Optimus and Arcee assented.

* * *

"Well, hello there, sweetspark. What brings you to my medbay?" Knock Out asked suavely, to which Breakdown shook his head with a laugh.

Optimus was already examined for any damage, so he was checked out and waiting in the command hub, conversing with Soundwave.

"Just check me already," Arcee said, just slightly annoyed. This Knock Out was a complete opposite to the evil medic she fought occassionally. This one wasn't brash or arrogant, or vain about his paintjob. He was chivalrous, flirtatious-which Arcee found she didn't really have too much of a problem with-and loved the thrill of battle.

"Fine, fine, don't get your cogs in a bunch," he retorted kindly, whipping out his medical scanner. After a few passes, he declared she hada clean bill of health. "You just need some Energon and you'll be fine," he assured with a thumbs-up.

"Thanks."

"You two really must be from another universe," Knock Out said aloud.

"Yeah. So?" Arcee asked in response. Knock Out regarded her a moment before looking away.

"You seem like an OK kind of gal. Too bad she isn't like you," he said, half in thought. She knew what he meant. Her insane counterpart. Too creepy to think about.

"Yeah. You're kind of OK too," Arcee responded awkwardly. Knock Out chuckled lightly.

"Oh? What am I like in this other universe?" he asked half-seriously, albeit a bit curiously.

"You're kind of a narcissistic jerk," she said flatly. Breakdown bust out laughing again, gripping the berth he was sitting on.

"Oh man! This one is hilarious. I'm hittin' the hallway. See you guys around," Knockouts assistant said, still attempting to hold in chuckles, muttering "narcissistic" before laughing again.

"Don't mind him. He and Airachnid are an item after all," Knock Out said with a harumph. He almost sounded jealous. Breakdown and Airachnid an 'item'. That was too weird to think about also.

"What's she like, here?"

"Airachnid? Well, she's definitely a looker-" Knockout had to remind himself that he was talking to a femme.

"Ahem, well she's a nice 'Con. Not into fighting much, but she isn't any less dangerous, if not moreso. Ever since Ratchet's 'upgrades' that is."

Arcee looked down. Against her will, she actually felt a little sympathy for this Airachnid if her and Optimus' meeting with Ratchet was any hint as to how mad of a scientist he really was.

"What happened?"

"It's not really my place to say. You'll have to ask her yourself," he suggested. "Well, thanks for stopping by. Nothing else I can do. Just make sure to grab some Energon out in the command hub," he added, waving her off. Arcee nodded before stepping out.

* * *

"The cause of our appearance here was a reaction between Nuclear fusion and SpaceBridge technology. Is it possible that the incident that caused us to end up here be repeated intentionally?"

Soundwave listened to Optimus' explanation, analyzing the facts of the situation. He nodded once, turning to type something on the monitor before turning his attention back to Prime.

"I don't wanna get your hopes up too high. But, with Raf's help, I may be able to reverse-engineer the accident," the spymaster said thoughtfully. "It'll take a few solar cycles. But definitely less than two Earth weeks," he concluded after performing mental calculations and counter-calculations in his processor.

"I thank you for your assistance," Optimus appraised. Even though he was glad that it was possible to get back to Team Prime again, it still saddened him that it would not be in reecord time. He hoped that they could hold out until their return. Bumblebee and Bulkhead were good comrades, and Wheeljack was good support in case things got rough. Soundwave nodded respectfully before returning to his work at the monitor.

* * *

The _Ark _seemed to look much smaller to the Autobots than it actually was. They had failed to contain the two look-alikes, and even worse, their base of operations was compromised. Although knowledge of the base's location wasn't necessarily a weakness for them now, taking into account the vast array of Autotroopers at their disposal, the fact remained that the Decepticons now had the element of surprise. It would be much more difficult to oversee mining operations if the Decepticons now had a spying eye in their shuttle.

"I am dissapointed in all of you," The dark Prime said in a controlled voice. It was apparent that he was angered. The autobots were wise to stay silent. Any spoken words on their part except for 'sir' would surely give him incentive to offline them.

"RC. You were held responsible for overseeing their continued captivity. I am outiside of base on a routine search mission, and you perform an unexcusable blunder. What _pathetic _reason must you have for their escape?"

"We were caught off guard. Soundwave hit us with a high-frequency audio burst. Knock Out and Breakdown had cut them fre-"

"_Decepticons _were inside the _Ark_?" Prime interrupted, his voice rising. RC swallowed nervously.

"Yes."

Slowly and delibrately, Optimus knelt down to be face to face with his second-in-command. He glided a finger over her face, brushing once over her scar, causing her to flinch.

"Dear RC. Do not fail me again, like Smokescreen," Optimus suddenly snarled, Clenching a fist directly in front of her face. He stood up to full height again.

"You are not replaceable. Another failure, and I _will _give you more scars to match," Optimus added darkly.

"Yes sir," she ground out, trying her hardest to not let the hate show too obviously.

He then turned his head to Goldbug.

"We will prepare a trap for the Decepticons. Let them find us. It will matter not. Send out the call. All Autobots to Earth," he ordered. Goldbug nodded slowly in acknowledgement and their commander stepped out of the room. Just as he did so, it felt like all of them could breathe.

"Looks like your _glorious _career will be coming to an end," Bulkhead commented snidely. During RC's verbal whipping, he was trying his hardest to supress a smirk. It would be soon until he would be second in command, and then he would have the Matrix for himself.

"Get _fragged_.," she retorted spitefully, stomping off. Bulkhead smirked lopsidedly, with Goldbug watching the whole exchange silently. No one noticed Cliffjumper's reflective expression as he gazed at Teletraan-1's monitor.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: LOL! I'm glad you guys caught the HISHE reference! Btw, I don't own that! Yes, Optimus and Megatron will get around to brofisting (metaphorically), and Arcee meets (SG) Airachnid next chapter! I know i'm being a douche! I didn't want to rush the plot without it looking stupid. :O**

**Optimus= Good, Nemesis= Bad (Unless it's obvious which one is being referred to)  
Arcee= Good, RC= Bad**

**Chapter 7**

**Reverse Meeting**

RC decided to go out and relieve some stress. Goldbug usually was lax about it. He didn't really bother to report anything to their leader unless it was truly detrimental to Autobot progress at base. So she was basically left alone to hunt while things weren't busy. Currently, she sat in hiding above ground within the trees. She was watching a couple who were enjoying each other's presence in what was apparently a camping trip. During her tenure as a bounty hunter all those centuries ago, she'd taken an interest in how different species' cerebrums processed thought, so she'd taken to collecting the brains of different species.

"I was saving the jar for Jack's brain..." she whispered to herself in slight annoyance. Ever since he'd destroyed his ship with that fragger, Airachnid's help, she was waiting to even the score permanently, but that spider-bot was cunning and always stopped her from getting to him. Oh, well, couldn't be helped.

Aiming her customized dart gun, she prepared to take aim at the male. Before she could pull the trigger, the male enveloped the female in a tender hug, to which the girl began to laugh at something he said. Exhaling angrily, RC removed her finger from the trigger. The two humans' exchange reminded her of the other femme. The blue one with pink highlights that looked exactly like her. She noted with discontent at how her and the red-and-blue Optimus seemed to get along so well. Then she remembered what the femme had said. Was there something wrong with her?

RC leaned back on the branch, and rested her head on the trunk, settling for passively watching the two. It wasn't long until they had packed up the tent, went in their jeep and drove off.

This was her seventh attempt today at killing a human. But for some reason, she just couldn't do it. To her surprise, it almost disgusted her to think of all the cerebrums she had on display in her now destroyed ship. She exhaled again, and closed her eyes in thought. Dropping from the tree, she shifted into motorcyle mode almost immediately upon landing. As she drove back towards base, she decided enough was enough. The arrogant, son of a glitch Optimus was unworthy of her skills anyway. It was time for some payback. Veering off, she made a U-turn and sped to an unkown destination.

* * *

"I trust that you have found some needed information, Optimus?" Megatron asked in a friendly tone as he entered the command hub. Many of the officers frequented the area as it acted much like a commons room.

"Indeed. I thank you for your hospitality and assistance," Prime replied modestly. He looked down to the floor momentarily before looking directly back at Megatron. The gladiator had an inkling of what he wanted to talk about.

"I know what you want to ask," Megatron said slowly, as though expecting Optimus' subsequent line of questioning. He nodded. "Go ahead."

"It is about this other me," Optimus began. A look of reflection was on his face, and he thought on how to phrase this question. He inhaled and exhaled to relieve the slight frustration he was feeling.

"Based on both you and your nemesis' personality and mannerisms, how did he result in becoming a Prime? Wouldn't you have been a worthy candidate for the position?" he asked carefully. The question had been running through his processor, and he was just not sure how Megatron in this universe did not become Prime.

"A fair question," Megatron responded, a crestfallen expression on his face. He raised his hand level with his waist and regarded it for a second. "It began when me and Optronix, as he was known as initially, started a correspondence in regards to the oppressive caste system..."

_Megatronus looked up from regarding his hand and turned to his friend. Optronix, a simple data clerk that became like a brother to the Gladiator turned Politician. _

_"We have made great leaps and bounds in our campaign," Megatronus said reflectively, thinking back on the many followers they had gained. They only required a few hundred more signatures to put forth a significant petition to the council. _

_"Indeed, old friend...and with my new position as chairman of the archives, we now have much more information on Cybertron's history, before the caste system," Optronix added nostalgically. The history of Cybertron's silver age would show the benefits of a Cybertron without division._

_Megatronus was impressed by how quickly Optronix had risen through the positions of the archival department. It was one of the many reasons he seeked correspondence with this particular cybertronian. Especially his opposition to the caste system. His patriotism was as strong willed as his. They continued to walk down the corridors of Megatron's current meeting hall, where fellow cybertronians came together to plan for their next method in reaching to others who were dissatisfied with the current state of affairs. _

**_Two years later..._**

_Megatron shook his head as he saw the destruction that surrounded him. How in Primus did Optronix even manage to cause a conflict of this magnitude? Glancing behind him, he saw the many loyal troops prepared to receive his next order. Soundwave stood to his side. Megatron's communications officer had briefed him on an urgent development. Optronix was attempting to alter the Autobot City Mobile Fortress into a massive soldier, dubbed Project _Metroplex_._

_Megatron took a step forward to survey the tower that stand in the center of his vision from his spot on the cliff. _

_"Soundwave. This is the Science Division's research lab. We must not let it be subjugated by the Autobots," he stated fervently. _

_"Wouldn't have it any other way," the spymaster replied confidently. This particular tower so happened to be a leading facility, the administrator a brilliant seeker professor in the Scientific Community. Raising his hand with two fingers pointing up, two decepticons rushed forward. _

_"Skyquake, Dreadwing. I need you two as our extraction team for this one. As two of my most strongest, I need you to rescue the captive scientists _before _Optronix's soldiers can test the blood of Unicron on them. The two warriors were well aware of the properties of Dark Energon. _

_"Yes sir!" they both responded confidently, taking off straight towards the tower's window. Soundwave and any two available scouts would act as snipers._

_With a mighty crash both Dreadwing and Skyquake burst through the window, with Skyquake taking point._

_"Bro, we need to burst open this Blast Shielding," Dreadwing observed. Skyquake nodded. The door was a mighty product of engineering. Even a cybertronian scrap-maker could make the smallest dent to it's hull integrity. _

_"Heh. They don't call me Skyquake for nothin'..." the powerful air general declared, a half-baton-half-battering ram shifting out through his forearm, coming to rest above his fist. With a roar, he charged foward and punched the blast shield door, causing it to instantly give way to Skyquake's impressive strength. Dreadwing then instantly provided coverfire with his neutron blaster, Shooting off Autobot soldiers while Skyquake removed his warhammer from subspace. The smoke was heavy and concentrated blasts of energy lanced out of the heavy smoke accompanied by the occasional battle roar, grunt of pain, and death-throes. But the two Decepticon warriors managed to break through with the help of Decepticon snipers and reached the command room. _

_"Let's get you out of this," Dreadwing said, expertly shooting the restraints off of the imprisoned scientists. Among three of them, they were seekers, and one shook hands with their rescuer, as he was the administrator. _

_"Thank for your assistance. My name is Starscream. And I believe I have urgent information. Optronix is headed for the core of Cybertron. Your forces need to stop him!" he said in a rush, obviously deeply troubled with what he had found out._

"After Starscream's rescue, that is when I had learned of the hidden intentions of Optronix. Not only was it his plan to awaken Autobot City into a warrior to hold a spark, but the Dark Energon was used to corrupt Cybertron's core. Too late was it that I realized he had stolen the matrix of leadership and was reformatted," Megatron paused, not able to continue.

"While under the influence of Dark Energon," Optimus said aloud. Megatron simply nodded slowly. Prime could only frown in deep sadness. He held a hand to his face, pinching a non-existent nose.

"To think, that the matrix of leadership could be corrupted by Dark Energon," Optimus said, his voice almost breaking. It was depressing, and also disgusting. To taint such an important artifact. Something that held a infinitesmal portion of Primus' very Spark. It was too much.

"He had become _worse _ever since he was reformatted through the matrix. Left mentally unbalanced. A sadistic side that I never knew existed, until that day," Megatron added slowly. Optimus could only nod his head in understanding of his recounting. Feeling as though he should do more, Optimus placed a reassuring hand on Megatron's shoulder.

"As long as I am here, I will do my best to assist you. It is the least I can do. In some small way, I feel responsible. He is me, after all," Prime said with a heavy spark. At this moment, Megatron placed his own hand on Optimus' shoulder.

"He is you, but he is _not _you. _Your _presence instills the hope that the old Optronix is still somewhere in his corrupted spark," Megatron replied. They both removed their hands from eachother's shoulder and shook hands.

"'Til all are one...old friend," Optimus said with a nod. Megatron nodded in agreement.

"Lord Megatron! I have returned with the children! I will be in the command hub in five," Starscream said over the Command Hub's public comm. Megatron exhaledin thought.

"It is about time that you two have met our human charges," Megatron said, this time in a much lighter tone. Prime nodded once again before following him to the hangar. He commed Arcee and filled her in on where he and Megatron were headed.

* * *

Arcee was slightly nervous, as dumb as it sounded to her. Optimus said that the humans had just arrived in the hangar bay via Starscream's alt. mode. While she was worried enough with the humans' appearance, she had heard from Knock Out that Airachnid was returning to the _Nemesis _around the same time. Her timing just so happened to coincide with Starscream's.

"Oh, joy," she remembered retorting to Knock Out, whom had simply chuckled at her expense. But here she was, on the hangar bay, next to Optimus, who stood next to Megatron.

The sonic boom of a jet could be heard and then followed the sight of said jet turning at a sharp angle as it finally came to land on the hangar bay. The cockpit popped open and three young children stepped out of the cocpit before Starscream reverted to his robot form.

"Awww! You should have done some loopty-loops, Screamer! That would have been awesome!" Miko proclaimed, tracing a wild circle in the air with a 'vroom' sound effect. Starscream sighed exasperatedly at Miko's infinite reserves of excitement. Jack shook his head at Miko's antics.

"You know that's too dangerous with Raf on board. He already gets airsick easily enough. Including me!" he said despairingly, causing Raf and Miko to chuckle. Optimus and Arcee were further back so as for Megatron to prepare them for what they were about to see. Jack walked forward a bit, with Miko and Raf in step with him, nearing Megatron's towering form. He walked past a Vehicon shouting "Hey, Steve!", to which said Vehicon gestured with a thumbs up.

"How's it going, Megatron!" Jack said with a wave. Megatron knelt down, and nodded to the three humans.

"Greetings, how went your flight?" he asked kindly, kneeling one knee to get a better look at them. Jack chuckled and explained how Miko kept trying to urge Starscream to fly upside down.

"Yeah, she's always trying to give us vertigo," Jack explained with a laugh. "So, Megatron, uh...What was it that you needed? We were in school, but we had physics at the time anyway, so..."

"I apologize having to pull you out of your secondary education. There are two guests you three must meet. And they need the help of Raf and his technical expertise," Megatron explained, standing up and gesturing with an open hand towards Optimus and Arcee. Upon seeing the two, Jack, Miko, and Raf nearly jumped out of their skin. The eldest of the three gained his composure the quickest, noticing the slight differences between the two Autobots and the one's he'd seen the two decepticons battle. Jack slowly regained his bearings and studied Arcee. She akwardly waved her hand.

"Uh, hi," she said, slightly embarrased under the scrutiny.

Jack wanted to ask what they were doing here, but something about them was off, very off.

"O-M-G! _You _two! What are you '_Bots _doing here!" Miko shouted, indignant. Arcee laughed internally. Miko was definitely the same. Except in this universe, Autobots were evil. It was strange to say the least, Miko saying 'Bots like it was foreign.

"Miko, I don't think these are the same ones," Raf observed, pushing up his glasses. Miko placed her hands on her hips, with a "Whatchu talkin' about" expression.

"Indeed," Megatron agreed. These two are from a parallel reality. Where Autobots are...heroic," Megatron explained. Miko's eyes grew wide with intrigue.

"That is kinda awesome! So that explains the new paintjobs!" Miko realized, pulling out her phone and snapping a picture of the pair. Arcee shook her head. Some things never changed, she guessed.

"Starscream, where's Airachnid. I was told she'd be rendezvousing at the same time as you," Megatron said, raising a brow.

"Ah, she is on her way. She told me she was busy 'resuing a cat from a tree', whatever that expression means," Starscream shrugged. Megatron snorted, amused with Airachnid's tendency of helping anything in need, sometimes when it was unnecessary.

"Your meeting with her will have to wait. She is delayed by a few earth hours," Starscream explaned to Arcee before he walked back into the interior of the ship.

Arcee sighed in exasperation and slight dissapointment. Great. The awkwardness will happen later rather than sooner.

"Alright! So where's Breakdown! We're going to play some slash monkey on this giant guitar he built!"

Even greater, Arcee thought sarcastically. Only Breakdown would just love that sort of audio-torture. And he built a cybertronian sized guitar?

"I can't wait until we get back," she muttered under her breath as all of them filed back into the ship interior.

**A/N: If any of you have read the Transformer's Shattered Glass comics, Cliffjumper from the Normal universe got transported to the Shattered Glass Universe. Do you guys want this Cliffjumper to turn out to be the normal one from the normal universe? It's a good plot idea I was thinking of. If not, I still have an idea for him. Let me know what you think in the reviews!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: To TimeLordBud: I'm not sure if Grimlock will make an appearance. But for now, it could go either way. I'm just attempting to be careful to not introduce characters just because (Grimlock is one of my fav characters btw).  
To DecepticonLover: Lol, i'm sorry. It has to be pure coincidence! And the Cliffjumper idea I had gotten from the premise of the Shattered Glass comics. But you can still do your idea! I highly doubt mine is exactly like yours! I look forward to checking it out!  
Btw, I hope this chapter's title doesn't make you all lose faith in me.**

**Chapter 8**

**Trollin' Airachnid**

"So, what kind of stuff do you uh, do?" Jack asked hesitantly. Arcee could tell that he was still guarded about meeting the new Autobots, even with Megatron's explanation. At least he was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Jack and Arcee were in the control room with Soundwave and Raf, who were going over the SpaceBridge schematics. She and Jack were situated by one of the many view port windows. The _Nemesis _was high in the ships, so a calming atmosphere of white was given off by the clouds.

"Well, I'm second in command to Optimus Prime. He's a lot like Megaton here," she added. She studied Jack's face for his reaction, and he seemed to come to a guess at Optimus' personality.

"This all seems surreal. I mean, giant alien robots is surreal enough," he replied, the both of them sharing an uneasy laugh. "But, another dimension? That's just..._wow_," he said with a scratch of the back of his head. He gazed out the viewport window occasionally. The interaction was awkward, moreso for Jack. He told her about how her counterpart had tried on multiple occassions to lobotomize him and Airachnids efforts to stop her.

"Yeah. I'm hoping she can change. Everything is so opposite to what i'm used to," she chipped in. She also occassionally glanced through the windows, imagining being back at the missle silo where everything was normal and un-reversed.

"So, what's your chemistry with Optimus?" Jack asked, steering the conversation to a lighter note. If RC and the evil Optimus shared an obvious, deep enmity, he figured these two's relationship would be the complete opposite. He could Arcee didn't quite understand the figure of speech, but she got the gist of it.

"I guess he's kind of like an older brother to me," she said without hesitation, even though she answered kind of akwardly. Jack didn't seem to be completely satisfied with that answer, but he didn't pursue the topic.

"What do you and Airachnid do? Sometimes we would go out for motorcycle rides. You guys go on helicopter rides?"

Jack nodded with a smile. "Sometimes. But she's off helping my mom a lot. With my mom being a nurse and Airachnid a Physiologist, they're basically best friends," Jack explained. This made Arcee supress a chuckle, in which Jack joined in. The ice was broken and they just made small talk while waiting for any breakthroughs on the SpaceBridge from Raf and Soundwave.

"Airachnid's here," Soundwave said to both Jack and Arcee.

"Well, this is going to be awkward," Arcee sighed, making her way to the Groundbridge.

"I'll come with you," Jack offered, getting up from his seat on the floor.

"Don't worry about it, I don't need an insurance policy."

"Nothing like that. Just to make sure you guys get along," he suggested. Arcee shook her head with a roll of her optics. Yep, Jack was the same too.

The Stealth helicopter angled in towards the landing strip of the ship. A noticeable difference she could see was that the trim lines that should have been a purple tone were instead green. Other than that, the helicopter didn't look any different. Once landing, Airachnid shifted into her bipedal form. Jack stood next to Arcee. Spotting the cycle-bot, Airachnid narrowed an optic, but nonetheless continued to walk forward.

Since Arcee was a guest on the ship, she offered her hand before Airachnid did.

"I was briefed on the situation en route," she preambled, totally disregarding Arcee's hand. Arcee couldn't help but feel the slightest bit miffed at Airacnid's behavior. She wasn't even bothering to return the courtesy of shaking her hand. "Hello, Jack," Airachnid smiled with a small wave, turning to enter the ship.

"Excuse me? Not even a hi?" Arcee challenged. She was not going to let Airachnid -even if this was the good version-, disrespect her like that.

"Oh, i'm sorry. Forgive me if I find two-wheelers an eye sore," the spider retorted in a most convincing tone, as if she said kind words. Arcee gasped as if she was physically hit. She had an utterly shocked expression on her face.

"Woah, guys, it's _cool_. This Arcee is different. She's OK," Jack attempted to mediate, trying to acquire their attention by waving his arms above his head. They _technically _didn't even know each other, and they were already showing symptoms of a catfight. The both of them looked at him and back at each other almost instantly. Jack was beginning to doubt his presence would of made a difference. He sighed and dropped his head. This wouldn't turn out good.

"Oh, come on! I'm trying to be nice!" Arcee said after exhaling angrily, trying to reign in her frustration. Airachnid snickered lightly and shook her head.

"You want to be nice? How about leaving the ship?" she said, her kind tone contradicting her otherwise rude response. That was it. She tried to be nice.

"Oh, I'll leave this ship," Arcee replied incisively, "After I kick your sorry aft off of it," she muttered, but purposefully loud enough for the other to hear. Airachnid was in the process of walking away to the ship's interior. Her back was turned and her shoulders arched. Offended, Airachnid turned back around slowly, and stood directly in front of Arcee. Green optics were narrowed, and she looked ready to pounce on her any moment.

"Are you trying to provoke me?" she inquired acidly. Arcee looked her in the optics, having to raise her head a bit because of Airachnid's slightly taller stature.

"You started it."

Oh my god, Jack thought incredulously. They were like two arguing schoolgirls.

"Guys, come on, this is irrational," Jack attempted. Seriously, they were giant sentient robots and they were arguing for no reason. Apparently, they caught wind of his slightly dissapointed tone, and they both harumphed and pointedly looked away from each other.

"Finally," Jack sighed. "Look, if it'll make you guys feel any better, there's one other, so we can all do introductions," Jack suggested with a shrug.

"Sorry about that," Airachnid said to Jack, pointedly not apologizing to Arcee. The cyclebot was feeling a bit offended again, but she would let that slide.

"Fine. Come on Jack," Arcee said, performing the mistake of offering her hand to Jack for him to stand on.

"What do you think you're doing?" Airachnid scolded, pushing Arcee out of the way with one of her extra arms.

"Oh, frag, what _now_?" Arcee asked helplessly. This femme was finding fault in everything she was doing.

"He is not your partner," she explained as if instructing an idiotic child. "I'm surprised your simple brain didn't register that," she continued, again sounding sweetly sarcastic. Arcee arched her head back and sighed towards the sky.

"Scrap, will you stop doing that? It's like my very presence is annoying you! And the sarcasm isn't helping!"

"What sarcasm? I doubt calling you simple minded was a lie," she retorted.

"That's it!" Arcee shouted before charging and tackling Airachnid. She was prepared however, and they continuosly rolled over, the both of them throwing insults at each other. Jack lifted his arms helplessly and let them drop. This was ridiculous.

"Hey, Megatron. Optimus, you gotta see this. Catfight," Soundwave said in between small laughs.

"Shouldn't we be trying to go and get them to stop?" Raf questioned his guardian. He was on Soundwave's left shoulder, so he saw the video at the same time as him.

"And see two girls slapfighting? Please," Soundwave responded to his charge, sounding quite pleased. Per Soundwave's call, Optimus and Megatron neared the monitor and held puzzled expressions on their faces.

"What?" Megatron asked no one in particular. "I had expected they would not be happy to see each other, but this is ridiculous," he observed. Optimus was watching too. Megatron had summed up his exact thoughts. Both their faces turned to shock and their brows shot up when they saw the two femmes on the monitor trying to choke each other. One would ocassionally be pinned to the ground, while the other would try to strangle the other. Soundwave snorted in laughter with his chest shaking in laughter as both the Prime and the Gladiator rushed to the hangar bay to stop the fight. Raf could only shake his head at how much fun Soundwave was having.

**A/N: I'm Sorry! I know this chapter seemed totally pointless! I had to do something though. I doubted Airachnid would be like "From an alternate universe? Oh ok," And leave it at that. Arcee either. So count this as a small comedic but relevant chapter. It gets better next chapter.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: To Anonymous: Oh sorry! I don't mind your username! Anonymous sounds cool. **

**Chapter 9**

**Allegiance**

Even after Megatron and Optimus reached the landing strip, the two femmes were still grappling each other and fully intent to rough-arm the other.

"Airachnid! Enough!" Megatron bellowed roughly, grabbing one of the spiderbot's shoulders and yanking her off of Arcee. Optimus had done the same with the blue femme in question, a disappointed expression on his face. Both Arcee and Airachnid were leaning towards each other as though intent to tackle each other all over again, but once the two leaders pulled them back, they gave up their fight and relaxed their stances.

"Arcee, I expected better conduct from you," Optimus scolded with a shake of his head. He was honestly a bit surprised at her extremely careless action. Arcee sighed in tiredness.

"I'm sorry, Optimus," she relented. She left it at that, being too tired to say anything else.

"I am not the one who needs an apology," Optimus hinted. Airachnid smiled at this until Megatron showed his disappointment.

"The both of you," Megatron ordered Airachnid, the latter's grin falling right off.

"I'm sorry. Airachnid," Arcee said after a prolonged hesitance. Airachnid seemed to be for all intents and purposes, glaring at her hand. Suddenly, she sighed as her shoulders dropped she and shook hands. The both of them squeezed hands more firmly than necessary but they let go after what looked like a veiled hand wrestling match.

"I apologize," Airachnid replied, sounding as if she meant the complete opposite. Both mechs would have to have a talk with their respective soldiers. All four of them made their way back into the ship's interior and towards the command hub. On the way there, both Optimus and Megatron confronted their own comrades on the matter.

"Airachnid, behavior such as that was uncalled for," Megatron scolded. He was walking to her left with his hands folded behind his back. "We try our best not to be the aggressor in words or actions," he continued, hoping she would understand what he was trying to say. Airachnid sighed exasperated as if bothered by his speech.

"I'm not like the rest of the decepticons!" she retorted hotly, but not loud enough to attract attention from anyone besides whom she was speaking to. "I don't know if you've forgotten, but Arcee," she jerked her finger towards the blue femme a small distance forward who was talking to Prime. "She killed my mentor! He had raised me since I was a protoform!" She seethed. Megatron's stern expression lightened up at the mention of Tarantula.

"Airachnid. I am truly sorry for what happened. But she," Megatron said, nodding his head towards Arcee, "Is not the RC that you know," he explained. Airachnid closed her optics, trying to will the image of away of her offlined teacher and someone akin to a father. Megatron had explained before that the two Autobots before them were not the same ones the Decepticons had sworn to destroy.

"This isn't easy for me," she admitted. She and Megatron were just reaching the command hub, and she rested her hands on an unoccupied section of the dashboard. "I was raised in Iacon. It's difficult to not hold grudges. And her presence doesn't help me at all!" she said in anger with clenched fists. Megatron sighed inaudibly, conscious of not showing his irritation. He was glad she had Breakdown. If it wasn't for him, she probably would have made some wrong decisions in the past.

"I know it's difficult. Believe me, I know. It is both uplifting and unsettling to see someone as one could have been," he said knowingly. He looked to Optimus' direction and then back down to her. "Go and relax with the rest of your comrades. No patrol for you today, that's an order," he finished. He turned to regard her for a second before walking off towards the command hub.

* * *

It wasn't long until the beep, signalling an incoming transmission.

"Put it on the line," Megatron said shortly. A crackle was heard as the static noisily displayed as the channel aligned with the ship's. After a few tense seconds, RC's face icon appeared. Megatron glowered at the display, even though there was no live face to express his dismay at.

"How did you get this channel?" Megatron demanded evenly. What was she even doing attempting to contact them?

There was no answer. Instead, text scrolled across the monitor.

"I have information that may be of use. Bring the Autobot leader," Soundwave recited the text that had scrawled across.

"This just gets better and better," Megatron commented sarcastically. Standing up straight after leaning to see the display, he crossed his arms behind his back. "I'd rather we just overlook this. But it may be information of import," he decided, nodding to Soundwave, who commed Optimus' frequency.

* * *

RC waited, sitting at the base of a tree. She had one leg bent at the knee and drawn up to her chin, while her other leg lay flat. She was studying the ground with no apparent purpose in mind as her helm rested on her knee-joint. After a few more moments of scratching at the ground with a finger, the peculiar sound of something similar to a crashing wave of water sounded. The Ground Bridge materialized, and out stepped the Autobot leader from another universe.

Even though he wasn't the same Optimus that was feared by 'Bots and 'Cons everywhere, she couldn't shake the impulse to stand anyway. Optimus' red and blue frame walked forward until he was a respectful distance from her.

"I was told you hold important information. But why summon me?" He asked, confused as to the circumstances. RC looked away from his optics momentarily, then disconnected from her waist a small capsule.

"I came to tell you what Optimus is planning," she said teresly. "He's going to call the Autobots scattered around the universe here to Earth." Optimus' optics widened in suprise before he frowned in concern...and suspicion.

"What is your motive for telling me this?" The Prime asked after a pause. "I am grateful, however, there must be a way you gain from this. RC looked away again, glancing around as if trying to catch something with her optics before once again looking at Optimus.

"The Prime that I served under," she began, steling herself to continue. "I joined him because he said he had the means to restore Cybertron," she confessed. Optimus could see the anger and even the pain hidden in that look.

"He lied. He wouldn't be so focused on subjagating other worlds if he was intent to revive Cybertron. Soon, he even stopped talking about it, like it wasn't important. So I am not going back to the Autobot base. I'm leaving."

"Why not join the Decepticons?" Optimus offered. "Their forces can offer protection." At this, she snorted in amusement.

"I've done too much wrong to be among the decepticons. After the war, if i'm still alive, my record could get me offlined for my crimes," she whispered, looking at the ground. "Here," she said, offering the capsule device. "This contains the code to the Autobot base's Laser Shielding."

As RC was naturally much shorter than he, he kneeled down to accept the device.

To his shock, RC held his face in her hands and quickly kissed him. She placed the device in his hand while he was still recovering from being startled.

"I wasn't lying when i said you look good in red and blue," she commented with an unidentifiable tone. Without hesitation, she turned and drove off after shifting into motorcycle form. Optimus stared at her retreating form until he could no longer see her in the dense wilderness. Blinking, he slowly stood and looked down at the device in his open palm. Clicking his audio receptor, he commed the _Nemesis _for a GroundBridge.

* * *

Cliffjumper was very tired. He knew this, because he felt very sluggish. Not only in body, but in mind too. Ever since Arcee and Optimus had appeared. Did that mean it was possible to return to where he needed to be? He really hoped so. And the only way to get out would be to contact them somehow. When he had first arrived here, he was actually found by Megatron, as his good luck would have it. He offered him hospitality on his ship, but it was Cliffjumper that suggested he act as a double-agent within the Autobot base, after he was briefed on the situation of this backwards dimension. Even if this wasn't his world, he wanted to help somehow. And if the autobots were evil here, then he would simply think of _them _as the Decepticons. Megatron had warned him that he would never call from the ship, as it would be too dangerous, and it would compromise Cliffjumper's safety.

So Cliffjumper would have to call the ship. Only thing was, Goldbug had not only eyes at the back of his head, he had eyes on the back of other peoples' heads, figuratively speaking. But frag it, he as Cliffjumper. What was life without some risk.

"Goldbug, i'm gonna look for RC," he announced to the ever silent communications scout. Goldbug turned his head from the teletraan-1 monitor that he was typing from to nod. Even though Goldbug could speak, he just never did after his upgrade from his frame when he was Bumblebee. Cliff was glad that he never had a reason to annoy anyone here. He and that evil Optimus were probably the only ones Goldbug respected. Cliff did a small goodbye gesture before shifting into his red muscle car and speeding down the tunnel and out into the road. It was time to comm the ship and hopefully get out of this crazy reverse world.

**A/N: The next chapter will have action and some communication between Breakdown and Airachnid. I didn't know how to add to this chapter without forcing the interaction. Oh, and RC will show up later again. **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: To Anonymous: Both usernames are fine. Use whichever one you like. And you'll find out Cliff's weaponry soon enough, :).  
To Smile-I'mTheEndOfAllThatYouSee: You'll see why, fufufufufufufu~  
To Forgot my name: I apologize for that! I had recently found about the spell check, any my laptop's keyboard will ignore letters sometimes. Thanks for the heads-up! And to everybody, Review Please! **

**Chapter 10**

**Revelation**

After knocking on Airachnid's door, there was no answer.

"'Rachnid? You in there?" the Stunticon asked for the second time. Seeing as how he checked everywhere else, she had to be in there, so he pushed open the door with an "I'm coming in."

The room was extremely dim and the only light entering the room was from the small crevice at the bottom of the now closed door. Not that it surprised him. It complimented her somewhat loner personality.

"Babe? I know you're in here," he challenged, looking around the room for a biped figure. Because of the lack of sufficient light, only the vague contours of objects could be seen within the space, but he was able to navigate the room well enough.

"Up here, muscles," a feminine voice replied after a few more calls from Breakdown. The mech nearly jumped in surprise, but he convinced himself he was too mech-ly for that.

Breakdown looked up, sighed, and spotted Airachnid sitting on one of the overhead rafters with a leg crossed over the other.

"Ah. What are you doing up there?" he asked irritably. "I've been lookin' all over for ya'!"

"I've had a lot on my mind lately," she responded without elaborating. Breakdown could see her figure, but minus the optics, he couldn't make out her face in the dim room.

"And you didn't think to tell me about it? Come down here so we can talk!" Breakdown beckoned. "It's not gonna help much with you locking yourself in the room, stewing your juices."

An annoyed sigh, and Airachnid finally dropped from the rafters.

"What's got you so mad anyway?" he questioned. He snaked an arm around her waist and palmed open the door. "C'mon. Let's go out and take a walk."

"It's just. RC. You know what happened," she responded. She rested her helm on his shoulder, and they slowly made their way out of the room and into the hallway.

"I know it's gotta be rough," he said, palming the back of his head awkwardly. "And i'm not gonna' pretend I know how you feel about that." Airachnid looked at him with an expression that could only translate as 'And how does that help?'

"But i'm here for ya'. So you don't have to be down about it by yourself," he added, pulling her into a hug. Airachnid chortled before pecking him on the cheek. Then she roughly pushed him back with one hand.

"I appreciate the pep-talk, but you don't need to be so sappy," she spoke, mock-irritated. She crossed her arms and turned her head with an arrogant air.

"Yeah, well ok. I'll stop being sappy when you stop," the Stunticon challenged with a smirk. "Now, come on to the command hub some time this millenium. No need for you to be tearing up lubricant," he taunted lightly before heading to the aforementioned location.

"Fine, muscles, but don't ever accuse me of crying," she shot back, catching up with him.

* * *

Cliffjumper's drive finally came to an end when he reached the edge of what would be an entrance to the forest. Reverting to his biped mode, he strolled into the wilderness and sat on a fallen tree. Looking around and scanning for any hostiles, he finally activated his heavily encrypted comlink. The light was plentiful, with the sun's rays shining through the thick overhead branches, so activity could be spotted by him by a long distance.

There was a prolonged crackle of static and Cliff was almost worried that the frequency wasn't working. Fortunately, his concern was erased when a voice finally answered the call.

::Cliffjumper?:: Megatron's slightly surprised voice carried over the frequency. ::Has your position been compromised?::

Cliff clicked his dentals and quickly glanced from left to right. ::No, but it's about time I compromised it myself. Big, bad, and purple is set to call over all the crazy allies of his to Earth. And I think the good autobots need to know the truth:: Cliff whispered through the frequency. ::It'd be too dangerous for me to try to maintain cover in front of a whole armada of baddies. My personality was similar to _their _Cliffjumper, but he would have found something strange about me eventually.::

There was an indefinite pause over the comm, and Cliff figured that Megatron was weighing his options. ::Very well. Soundwave will have a SpaceBridge prepared for you. Remember, when you are transported to the hangar, do not enter the command center without escort. Others do not yet know of your double agent status,:: Megatron warned.

::Don't worry. I'm no newbie,:: Cliff retorted, not able to help being just slightly offended at Megatron's overcautiousness. Moments had passed by, and Cliff felt as though Goldbug or Bulkhead were going to jump out of the shadows at any moment. Fortunately, it must have been just paranoia. A Groundbridge materialized, and he could make out the vage contours of a landing strip in the sky. Yup, this was his taxi.

* * *

"Waitwaitwait. You're saying there is another _good guy _Autobot here besides Optimus and Arcee?"

Jack's question definitely voiced his utter confusion as to what was going on. Megatron requested that Soundwave brief the humans so as they wouldn't 'Freak out' as he had said. Soundwave could only shrug in sympathy.

"Only Megatron and the rest of us higher-ups even knew he was a double agent. Apparently, he got here the same way that the righteous Optimus and Arcee did," the spymaster explained. "Hey, don't give me that look, I was under orders!" he added irritably, emphasizing his seriousness with an **:I **symbol on his visor. Jack narrowed his eyes in suspicion before giving up. Jack couldn't keep a straight face while looking at that mote on Soundwave's visor anyway.

"I think it's great. He's like a 007 for Decepticons!"

"Miko? When did you get here?" Raf asked while pushing up his glasses. The enthusiastic rocker girl was standing next to Jack with a hand on her hip.

"Breakdown went to go talk to his girlfriend! You know i'm not into Sappy romance stuff!" She retorted. "Besides, i've been here for like three whole minutes," she added with a hint of irritation. Was she that unnoticeable?

"Oh," Raf laughed with embarrased expression. Jack just shrugged at Miko's questioning glare.

"You didn't exactly broadcast your appearance like you're used to doing," the eldest teen said offhandedly. He recieved a punch in the arm in response.

"Oh, hey Optimus, you headed to the landing strip?" Jack queried. The tall red and blue mech turned his helm towards Jack while he was walking in said direction.

"Affirmative. There is a guest that Megatron insists me and Arcee to meet," he said in his usual, natural baritone voice.

"Let me know how it goes in there! Tell me if you guys exchange secret information! Miko shouted at Optimus. He raised a ridge in amusement before continuing on his way.

"Miko? You're not just gonna run in there and see what's going on?" Raf asked, surprised that she wasn't doing just that.

"When have I ever walked in on 'Cons when they are doing important stuff?"

"Like life and death fights aren't important?" Jack muttered under his breath with a facepalm.

* * *

Arcee sighed in true irritation this time after reaching the landing strip.

"Wait, wait. How the frag are you the _good _Cliffjumper?" She asked incredulous. The red mini-vehicle before them took a deep breath.

"It's the truth. I got transported here when we were making our escape from Shockwave in the SpaceBridge! Remeber?"

"You are suggesting that you are from our universe?" Optimus qustioned after Arcee didn't say anything else. He nodded once.

"That's right Optimus. Megatron told me how you two ended up here. That's how it happened for me. When Shockwave shot at me and Arcee while chasing us thruogh the SpaceBridge, I managed to temporarily nlind him. But he got a lucky shot in. It actually forced me _through _the side of the SpaceBridge. But I don't know where this world's me went.

"We. We _buried _him!" Arcee shouted almost against her will. She had both hands behind her head and she got to pacing back and forth. "This doesn't make any sense! The Cliffjumper I was with, on Earth. He didn't seem any different!"

Cliffjumper didn't have an answer to that.

"Look, Arcee, I'm sorry. I didn't know how to get back, so I just got to helping the resident heroes of this dimension," he said softly, closing the distance between him and Arcee to rest a hand on her shoulder. The instant he did, Arcee, almost on reflex swatted his arm away.

"Just, get away for me for a second," she told him roughly. "You understand. I buried you. We had all mourned you. And it turns out you're fine? I should be happy but," Arcee paused and took a labored breath. "I need space," she concluded, turning to walk to her temporary quarters.

"'Cee, wait!" he beckoned, but she totally ignored him and continued walking until she was out of sight. He steeled himself and began to follow, but Optimus held him back with a blocking arm.

"Arcee needs time to process this. The Cliffjumper that we buried...he was not much different from you," the Prime said to him.

"How come you're not freaked out about all this?" Cliff asked in response at Optimus' seeming ease of acceptance of the situation.

"I have seen stranger things," Optimus said with a tired sigh. That made Cliff wonder just what the heck kind of scrap had he dealt with.

"If you will follow me, I must prepare the vehicons for your arrival. They need to be briefed just like with our other two guests," Megatron said, nodding his head towards Optimus. Cliff nodded and forcefully expelled breath. Arcee hadn't taken the news as well as he thought she would. Optimus followed behind Cliffjumper, who was led by Megatron back into the ship.

* * *

The _Jurassic _floated through the empty void of space slowly but steadily. The ship was in no way damaged, but it's crew had no motive to rush anything, so the ship ambled slowly through space. That would all change though when the signal in the pilot's dashboard began to beep.

"It's Optimus Prime's summoning signal," a raspy voice sounded from the command chair. He turned his head to regard the ship's commander at the center of the room of the large vessel. "What is your next order?" He asked curiously. It had been a while since they were needed for any important Autobot missions. His commander would surely find enjoyment out of this, and so would he.

"Hm," was all that their commander uttered from his command chair. "What do you surmise, Swoop?" He queried after a small amount of thought.

"Why not. It's better than floating around in space for cycles at a time," another voice answered from another Co-pilot's seat. The room was dark, but it was obvious from the shapes of these figures that they did not carry vehicle alt. modes, but rather something more primal. "Snarl?" Swoop asked, turning his head to the final member, who was parallel from him.

"Let's smash some 'Con heads, and rip their Sparks out!"

The Commander cackled in amusement, pleased with the unanimous vote. "Then, I, Grimlock, shall lead this ship to Earth. And we shall turn the tide of this pitiful war," he orated dramatically. "Let us be on our way, then?"

_Jurrasic_'s SpaceBridge controls activated the portal it needed to travel to the destination known as the Milky Way.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: To Prodigal: Don't worry, there will be some interesting stuff going on with the Dinobots. And there will be more Autobots and Decepticons!  
To Klicks: Yup, that was the idea I was going for! XD  
To Ash Uzumaki: Sorry for that Typo! Yeah, I meant the Decepticons, but 'bots could have been interpreted as Robot. Thanks for the heads-up! Also, imagine Megatron as the flashbacks, kindly looking, scarless, and with smooth teeth, lol.  
To Sakiko of Soleana: YES! Grimlock and his crew will play a part! I hope you and other readers like it!**

**Chapter 11**

**Closure and Opening**

The compassionate Prime could easily tell that Cliffjumper was depressed. During the War for Cybertron, Optimus had met Cliffjumper and rendezvoused with Ironhide long before the trip to Earth. So, naturally, it was surprising to find out that the Cliffjumper that came to Earth with the rest of Team Prime was in fact, not the Cliffjumper that they knew during the war. But then again, Cliff's personality, oddly enough, was equivalent to the one sitting across from him, looking dejected, no doubt from Arcee's livid, but logical reaction to his continued existence.

"Cliffjumper," Optimus began. His voice pulled the scout out of whatever depression he was drowning in.

"Do not blame yourself for current events. Circumstances such as these were out of all of our collective control," Optimus asserted, including himself and Arcee in the current situation. The both of them after all, did end up in the same predicament as the red Autobot. The soldier in question snorted amusedly.

"Yeah," he muttered to himself. "But why was she so angry? And what did she mean, she buried me? Shouldn't this Cliffjumper be all Bat-frag crazy or something?" Cliffjumper was looking at him now, and Cliff was wondering how alike this other Cliff and he were. Optimus blinked, looked at the ground, and regarded him for a second time.

"Cliffjumper, the soldier we buried," Prime started. His eyes clouded over with a recognizable expression of grief. He did not frown exactly, but Cliff could see it in his optics.

"The painful factor in all of this, may be that he was much like you. So much so, that we did not notice any difference. His personality was that of a true Autobot who fought for innocents. I believe he may have been dissatisfied with this Prime's leadership."

"It sounds like he didn't bother telling her the truth about what happened," Cliff accused his deceased counterpart. Optimus could see the hurt in his eyes, and an almost self-loathing.

He blamed the other Cliffjumper for Arcee's distress.

"Don't blame him, or yourself. There would have been no rational situation in which he could have explained what happened." Optimus paused, studying Cliffjumper's reaction. He was no longer angered, but the self-pity was still there. Thinking over the few weeks that Cliffjumper was alive in their home dimension on Earth, Optimus could easily figure out that Arcee and Cliffjumper were obviously in a relationship.

"Cliffjumper, do you have feelings for Arcee?" He asked calmly. Cliffjumper seemed a bit off put by the sudden query, but he wasn't going to hide it. That wasn't how he did things.

"Yeah. But I never got to tell her. I was just beginning to get her to open up, you know? I mean before the SpaceBridge incident," he responded, with a heavy dose of nostalgia lacing his words.

So that was it. The Cliffjumper that really belonged in their universe did not yet pursue a relationship with her.

"Arcee has been sulking for a quite a few earth hours. I suggest you try talking to her now. I think that, if anything, she is spark-broken," he said, not bothering to elaborate.

"What do you mean?" Cliffjumper asked in confusion. Optimus only suggested that it was not for him to say. He nodded before making his way to the room that Optimus pointed out. He was going to find out what got her so upset. And maybe later, but probably not soon, he could tell her how he felt.

* * *

"Where is RC?" Optimus asked with a dangerous undercurrent. He was not pleased. His second-in-command simply dissapeared off the radar, and no one seemed to know just where she went.

"Perhaps she has...deserted?" Bulkhead suggested strongly. Optimus scowled, glaring at the tunnel in which RC had left for the last time through not too long ago.

It was a possibility. One that he was not prepared for as of yet. A pity. He would have to execute her. She held too much information in her little processor.

"GoldBug, did she GroundBridge out of the base?" he asked his communications chief without moving. The yellow and black scout shook his head in a negative, but he picked up a device from the dashboard of Teletraan-1 and offered it to him.

"Ah. Excellent work. She believes she has eluded us," Prime responded approvingly to GoldBug's actions. Apparently, RC was too trusting of GoldBug. He had her bugged just in case. Even though he and Arcee never argued, he was well aware of her temperamental demeanor.

"Shall I go and execute her, sir?" Bulkhead asked eagerly, cracking the knuckle joints on his hands. This is what he'd been waiting for. Once she was out of the way, he would be one step closer to ultimate power. He could almost taste it. BlastShield Prime had a good ring to it.

"No."

Well that was a way to kill the mood.

"At least, not yet. She is of no import at this time. We must be ready to receive our reinforcements. The Dinobots will be the first to arrive."

Great, Bulkhead thought scathingly. Just who he needed to be here. Grimlock. That pit spawn had an annoying honor obsession. Not to mention, he was a tough 'bot to mess with. And that was just putting it lightly. Although Optimus found him not bloodthirsty enough, he believed he was unshakably loyal to the Autobot cause. Bulkhead would have to change that. And he needed to find out just what he was loyal to. The being, or what the being represented.

* * *

"Hey, boss-bot, we have activity at a nearby Autobot mine."

That was peculiar. Optimus clearly knew that the Decepticons now had a fix on his base's location. Why so soon, would he send his troops out to mine for Energon?

"Prime is arrogant, but not stupid. This must be a trap," Megatron asserted. And the codes to their shielding were in his possession thanks to the Guest Prime's assistance.

"With RC's apparent dissappearance, he _has _to know that his base's security is compromised," Megatron continued, uncertain of the strange circumstances. "We'll have to engage them anyhow. Any advantage we can gain, we must take advantage of it."

"Shouldn't we just blast their base to the pits?" Starscream asked uncertain. Surely, they could just destroy their headquarters and caue confusion among the Autobot forces.

"As tempting an option that may be, it poses too much of a threat to human casualties. They will become more unpredictable than they certainly already are," Megatron's calm rebuttal came. Yes, destroying their resources would be the most obvious course of action, but they would possibly retaliate by attacking humans. The only reason the Autobots have ignored humans for the most part was because of their current uselessness to them.

"Soundwave, open a SpaceBridge, and summon three more officers, and a squadron of Vehicons. I will personally be joining this skirmish," he ordered with confidence. Whatever was occuring at that mine, it was not simply for Energon.

**A/N: OMG, I'm sorry, no fight this chapter. But GUARANTEED, there will be Action Galore next chapter! Don't hate me!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: To Prodigal: Don't worry, there will be some interesting stuff going on with the Dinobots. And there will be more Autobots and Decepticons!  
To Klicks: Yup, that was the idea I was going for! XD  
To Ash Uzumaki: Sorry for that Typo! Yeah, I meant the Decepticons, but 'bots could have been interpreted as Robot. Thanks for the heads-up! Also, imagine Megatron as the flashbacks, kindly looking, scarless, and with smooth teeth, lol.  
To Sakiko of Soleana: YES! Grimlock and his crew will play a part! I hope you and other readers like it!**

**Chapter 12**

**Gladatorial Rematch**

"Squad 1! Scout the perimeter! I will be entering the mine," Megatron ordered to his soldiers through the open Decepticon channel. After several steps, his blue optics became the only source of light. The second squad, who acted as backup, provided extra ambient light with active gun arms.

"Stay alert. This setting stinks of a trap," Megatron commented darkly. He took his own advice and focused his internal scanners for any foreign hostile energon signals.

"Ugh!" A pained grunt sounded through the open decepticon channel. "General Megatron! The ambush is not on the perimeter! It's ins-"

An explosion on the other side of the comm. interrupted one of Squad 1's member's rushed warning. Megatron paused and narrowed his optics, as though attempting to pierce even further through the dark mine tunnel.

"Squad 1. Prepare a SpaceBridge and withdraw. Squad 2, stay close. An ambush may be lying in wait."

Megatron's soldiers responded with affirmatives, and they tightened their formation. Two Vehicons on either side of him, and three Vehicons took up the rear, with two of them staying alert for an attack from behind.

Then an impressive tremor sounded through the mine. Of course, Megatron was anticipating that there would be an ambush.

What startled Megatron was the fact that almost he lost his footing. The Vehicons had noticed this too and exchanged glances. Whoever was up there had to be pretty massive to shake the ground _that _much. And Megatron could almost guess who it was.

"Squad 2, maintain perimeter, but do not engage."

"Sir?" One of the Decepticon troopers asked in concern. Megatron glanced behind him and held up a hand.

"I will handle this. An old score to settle."

"Come out! GRIMLOCK!" Megatron bellowed, balling his fists in anticipation. The Vehicons activated their guns, pointing in towards the darkness.

"I said do not engage!" Megatron ordered strongly. Following his command, a hearty laugh sounded from the still shadowed section of the mine. A steady pattern of heavy thunks sounded, resonating footsteps belonging to an Autobot known for his sheer size and power.

"I see you have not let your commanding presence lose it's effect," Grimlock observed. All that could be seen of him was his reflective blue visor that bounced the light emanating from his unseen optics. The otherwise unassuming blue of the visor was offset by the muddled red light under it. Then he stepped out of the shadows, his presence encouraging Megatron's back up to take a cautious step backwards.

"Vehicons. Return to the _Nemesis_," The gladiator ordered, not taking his optics off of Grimlock. Since he had an idea of where all of the hostiles would be located now, he'd have no need for them at the moment. The Vehicons without a word retreated through through nearby mine entrance.

"Optimus must be slipping, if he needs the abilities of someone of your caliber," Megatron admitted. The last time he had fought Grimlock seriously was at least a millennium ago. Without hesitation, Megatron's blade unsheathed above his right hand and below his fusion cannon.

"My abilities are necessary to see the goal of a Prime to come to fruition," The Dinobot commander answered, his facemask blocking from view Grimlock's mouth. Megatron couldn't tell what Grimlock was thinking. The sides of the face-guard had violent, decorative fangs, a hint to his alt. mode.

"I presume then...that asking you to reconsider my offer doesn't stand?" Megatron asked with a smirk, but humorlessly.

Grimlock began to stroll forward with heavy footsteps, unsheathing an enormous Energon blade from subspace. In response, Megatron planted feet into the ground, tightening stance.

"Indeed," Grimlock responded, breaking into a charge. Megatron mirrored the action, and they both raised their swordarms, prepared to attempt to run each other through.

If one stood outside of the mine, one would have been suprised to see a giant, silver robot careening thruogh the entrance to land at the mouth of the cave. He had grunted with a crash, but had risen quickly.

"Seems he hasn't lost any strength in his punches," Megatron half-joked to himself. Swaying quickly to the left, Grimlock leaped through the air, just missing his head with his vicious blade. Using his right arm, Megatron feigned a slash with his sword, but rather shot Grimlock in his sword shoulder, causing him to back up enough to create a comfortable distance between them.

"You can stop Optimus' corrupt movement," Megatron ventured, parrying a sword blow before being slugged in the jaw. Reeling backwards, he dodged yet another sword swing and punched Grimlock clean at the side of the jaw. Any other bot, it would have knocked them out, but Grimlock paused before looking his way again.

"I follow the Prime. Any other way is dishonorable. Besides, you did attempt to have me stasis-locked indefinitely," Grimlock retorted angrily, shoulder tackling Megatron. The force of the strike slid Megatron backwards, making him collide with the outer wall of the mine. Megatron wouldn't be able to keep this up. Even with all of his past experience as a warrior, Grimlock was simply too strong. He had heard that Grimlock and his team were enhanced by a scientist, but he didn't know who.

His eyes widened before he moved his helm to the side to evade a rock shattering punch. Thinking quickly, Megatron gripped Grimlock's arm and shifted his weight, managing to flip Grimlock over and into the air. The Dinobot commander went with the momentum, and landed into a shoulder roll and getting to his feet quickly.

"Whatever caused your...condition, was not caused by a Decepticon!" Megatron shouted, leaping into the air with his sword aimed at Grimlock. The Dinobot gladiator swung his sword and clashed with Megatron's and their clashing continued, neither fighter giving ground.

"Why have you decided to face me now of all times?"

Grimlock chuckled humorlessly, sheathing his Energon blade and catching Megatron sword swing from the arm.

"This has merely been a distraction, to extract a relic."

Megatron's eyes widened in suprise. That was why Grimlock was here. His enhanced energon signature would have masked the signature coming off of a relic.

"Well played," Megatron uttered. In the distance, he could spot a beast shaped Autobot seeker pulling a slab of rock through the air, with other beastly looking grounded Autobots following behind. So that's where the other Dinobots were.

Kicking Grimlock in the torso, Megatron managed to break Grimlock's grip on his arm.

"Yes, well, I must bid you adieu. Our rematch will have to wait," Grimlock responded with an amused laugh. He planted his fists parallel from each other into the ground and the transformation process began.

Megatron had never seen Grimlock's new transformation in person, but it still caused him watch in awe as a towering, mechanical, Tyrannosaurus Rex took the place of Grimlock. Without another word, but with a roar, the Dinobot unleashed flames, blining Megatron's view of his sides. As soon as the flames erupted, they were gone, and so was Grimlock and the Dinobots.

Megatron called a groundbridge and watched the mouth of the mine as he contemplated the implications of the relic. He was unsure of what relic that they had recovered, but he sincerely hoped that it wasn't the Star Saber.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**Power Shift**

When Megatron had finally returned to the Nemesis' bridge via GroundBridge, Optimus was there at the landing bay.

"You have no doubt seen the energy readings from the ship's scanners?" Megatron queried, stalking off towards the ship's entrance. Optimus was next to him in step, his expression showing a grave seriousness.

"I have. It is no doubt that is indeed the Star Saber. It's signature is unmistakable," he replied, sighing in tempered frustration.

"The balance of power is no doubt tipped in their favor. And we Decepticons have no means of forging our own weapon to counter-balance the StarSaber," Megatron ground out. The balance between winning and losing an engagement was usually even when resources were counted. But now that the StarSaber was in the possession of the Autobots, with a weapon such as it was, it could decimate anyone with ease. And Megatron, with all of his combat experience, could not best a weapon that defied the very physical laws of combat.

"Do you have the Forge of Solus Prime?" Optimus' question pulled him back to reality. He had almost forgotten that he was standing there.

"Yes. But what use is it without the-" Megatron cut himself off. How could he have been so ignorant?

"Hand of a Prime," Optimus finished for him. "As I am also a bearer of the matrix along with my counterpart," he said, gesturing towards his own torso where the sacred artifact lie. "I have the means to forge a StarSaber of my own to face him."

Megatron blinked his optics, thinking of the implications of what he was suggesting.

"Far be it for me to ask someone to battle in my place," he said, a hand on his chin, "But as there is no way I can effectively counter a StarSaber, I ask for your assistance in our next engagement?"

"Of course. Once I have the weapon forged, I will counter this world's Prime with my own," Optimus declared, determined. "I shall prepare immediately," he added, turning to make his way towards the relic room.

* * *

"Arcee," the muffled voice sounded from the hallway the enclosed room. The blue fembot sighed in annoyance as he peace and quiet was stunted by Cliffjumper's concerned calling.

"What is it, Cliffjumper?"

"I know I must be a jerk for still being among the living," Cliff said sarcastically, "but can we at least talk face to face?"

Of course Cliff would misinterpret the whole situation.

The door slid open and Arcee stepped out, the door closing behind her. She leaned back on the wall adjacent to the door and crossed her arms.

"You know that's not how I feel," Arcee asserted, causing Cliffjumper to chuckle uneasily. Cliff leaned against the opposite wall and crossed his own arms.

"Nah, I just said that to get you out of the room." Arcee rolled her optics in tired annoyance.

"Look," the red mech started with a sigh, "I know this is hard for you. I mean, I had no idea how the autobots, the real ones that I know, were holding up. I dunno if Bulkhead and Wheeljack are still destroying things as usual..."

"They're fine," Arcee added objectively. Cliff nodded in acknowledgement.

"I'm just gonna be frank. I think you're awesome Arcee."

"Cliff," Arcee interrupted tiredly.

"Hold on, i'm not finished," Cliff continued. "All of this is confusing for you, I know. So if things don't work out, friends at least?"

Arcee sighed and seemed to mull it over before regarding him with a half-serious frown. "Fine," she muttered.

"Now give me a hug," he ordered, his stern tone offset by the smile on his face. Arcee exhaled in futher annoyance but didn't have the heart to object.

"See, now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Cliff asked, swinging her around once in the hug. Arcee couldn't help but chuckle.

"Ok, ok!" She relented. "Now let go of me!" Cliffjumper complied and rested a servo on the back of his helm.

"Well, since the proverbial ice is broken," Cliff ventured. He made a thoughtful expression before looking towards the bridge. "I'll be at the bridge if anyone needs me."

* * *

"You called, Megatron?" Optimus asked as he neared the Gladiator on the _Nemesis' _landing bay. The gladiator continued to look out through the clouds, a foreboding expression plastered on his face.

"I have just been told of grave news, old friend," Megatron began, his arms crossed behind his back. "We have confirmed reports of relics called 'Omega Keys' found in select locations across the globe."

"The Omega Keys," Optimus repeated, the name resonating with a memory he couldn't quite recall. "They sound familiar to me, but I cannot recall the function of them," Optimus admitted. "I only know that their importance is of even graver significance than the other relics. It is connected directly to Cybertron's core, somehow."

"Then the Decepticons will make it their priority to have at least one of them at all times," Megatron assured, turning his helm to regard Optimus. "How fares your construction of your very own Star Saber?"

"It is done," Optimus confirmed. "I have also taken the liberty of crafting one that you may also utilize," he added, pulling from subspace the extra blade he had crafted. He handed it to Megatron, who accepted it humbly.

"Thank you, Optimus. I will make sure this is used wisely," Megatron promised, sheathing the sword to his own subspace.

"I'm sure it will," The Prime agreed. "Are you prepared to face him?" The Autobot leader asked.

"Indeed. With the new sword, I can face him myself. If it's just him..."

"I understand. We will act as backup unless it's an ambush," Optimus concluded with a knowing smile. Megatron grinned in response with a nod.

* * *

"Ah. Commendable work, Grimlock," The mech formerly known as Optronix appraised, as the Dinobot leader and his squad comrades walked through the tunnel with the large sword embedded rock, dragged by Grimlock himself.

"Of course, Optimus Prime," Grimlock replied, coming to a stop in front of Optimus, steppnig to the side to give the Dark Lord space to unsheath the sword. Optimus grabbed onto the hilt, his grasp tight. With ease, the sword gave way as it was pulled free from the giant boulder. He raised it skyward, the blade pulsating a bluish tint as if on cue.

"With this, and the Autobot reinforcement, victory will be assured within a matter of cycles."

_A/N: I apologize for the slightly short chapter. Very late at night and I am just a wee bit tired. Next chapter will definitely have more pizzazz to it. Promise. :^)_


	14. Chapter 14

_Fufufufu, I know i've been absent a while. I apologize, been busy with college. But now, I'm on Spring Break!_

**Chapter 14**

**The Omega Keys**

The Nemesis had finally neared the canyon area that was the destination for landing. Descending onto a clearing surrounded by walls of rock from all sides, it would easily go undetected by optics or sensors.

"Now that Grimlock has made his presence known among the Autobot ranks," Megatron began, crossing his hands behind him and stalking towards the window in great thought, "We must ambush one of their mines, and acquire a surplus of energon, to account for any of our injured that may occur in our coming skirmish."

Optimus nodded his head once in agreement.

"Starscream has also picked up the signal that you described. An Omega Key."

"I will return soon with a collection of it," Optimus suggested. Soundwave gave a thumbs up and began to activate the ground bridge from his HUD on his visor.

"Wait, Optimus, i'm going with you," Arcee had spoken up from the side of the room. Optimus regarded Arcee for a moment before making his decision.

"Arcee, I suggest you remain here for the time being. Cliffjumper will accompany me for this mission."

Optimus wouldn't tell her the real reason, being that she could still be unfocused from Cliffjumper's sudden appearance. She needed time to just reflect and not feel over-stressed.

His second-in-command sighed irritably. "Fine," she said in a half-defeated tone. Cliffjumper got off the wall he was leaning on, heading towards Optimus' direction.

"Well, wish me luck," he commented to Arcee.

"Yeah, yeah," she dismissed lazily, to which Cliffjumper shrugged. The two mechs entered the Spacebridge and the portal winked out of existence once they passed through.

With nothing left to do, Arcee decided to pay medbay a visit. Talking to the humans was out of the question at the time, in her mind, seeing as how this wasn't even her world. And the fact that her counterpart is a brain hunter. She minutely shuddered at the thought when she finally reached Knockout's medical quarters.

Palming the door open, the idle thought came to her that it was weird how she, as an Auobot, had free roam over the _Nemsis. _

"Well, well. What's the lovely lady-bot doing in my less than adequate abode?" Knockout addressed smoothly, putting down the datapad he was working on and raising a curious metallic brow.

"I wanted to talk. About how you guys go about missions?"

Knockout wasn't sure where this line of conversation was leading to, but he couldn't just ignore her problem. He gestured to an open seat which Arcee took with a thanks.

"Do you guys ever go on solo missions or whatever?"

"I'm not sure I understand," Knockout admitted.

"You know, without _the commander's knowledge_," she suggested heavily, with an innocent shrug. Knockout's optics widened in realization.

"Oooh! _That _kind of mission. Well," Knockout put a contemplating hand on his chin. "I've gotten into extended fights with the Doctor of Doom, Ratchet, more or less. He's stolen a lot of my work, although Megatron suggests _patience_," Knockout admitted with an eye roll.

"Great commander, but not everyone is virtuous like he is."

"I was thinking we go on our mission to steal something from them. And get your research back in the process. What do you think?"

Knockout leaned forward, interested. "You have my attention," a smile forming on his face. "What'd you have in mind?"

"I had read over one of Soundwave's logs, and it tuns out that Ratchet has some experimental transwarp technology. It could speed up the research Soundwave needs to get the portal up and running that can get me and Optimus home," Arcee explained.

"Sounds like a suicide mission," Knockout commented, forming second thoughts. "You do realize there are Autotroopers and the officers there, like the ridiculously large Grimlock?" the bot offered with hinted sarcasm.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to."

"Well you're sure as the core you're not going by yourself!" Knockout insisted. "Fine," he relented. "This is stupidly risky, and I don't have a problem with that."

* * *

Grimlock was typing away in the Outpost's large monitor, stringing together code that would reactivate the base's shielding. As busy as he was, he hadn't noticed Bulkhead arrive in the room, lazily watching the work being done before he decided to act on why he was here.

"You know, Grimlock," Bulkhead began with a raised voice to garner the imposing mech's attention. Grimlock ceased typing, to regard the blue armored mech.

"You should keep an eye out on Optimus. He's been quite _off _since you've last seen him on Cybertron," he continued.

"Why should I keep "an eye out" on him, as you say?" Grimlock queried, his expression unreadable behind the blue visor that was constantly in front of his blood red optics.

"His intentions may no longer be pure," Bulkhead reasoned. "Haven't you noticed that he has become less concerned about restoring Cybertron than conquering everything else?"

"You are feeding me selective disinformation," Grimlock said objectively, narrowing his optics behind his visor.

"Is it a lie?" Bulkhead suggested with a shrug. "Observe him for yourself. If you ask me, he's going against the interests of what a Prime should be doing. Should not his main concern be the revival of Cybertron?"

"I didn't ask you," Grimlock retorted dangerously. Bulkhead raised his hands in mock surrender. "Of course. But be weary of him. He's not the same guy you think he is," the smaller mech cautioned before leaving the room.

Grimlock growled in annoyance. He never enjoyed that buffoon's company. But his argument may have had validity. The reason he was called here was to stop an enemy. Nothing was wrong with such a call, but what he was now suspicious of, was the fact that Optimus main forces were more than adequate to fend the Decepticons off. Grimlock saved the file he was working on onto the main drive so that he could continue later.

Perhaps he should indeed "keep an eye" on Optimus Prime.

* * *

RC had finally reached what she was looking for.

The _Harbinger_. Seeing as how it was now abandoned, Optimus would have no need for it. Seeing as it was also already a known location by the Autobots, it'd be the last place they'd look. Moving quickly, she began to type information into the still active computer. Apparently, it had very up to date information, the text mentioning something about an Omega Key. It didn't really capture her interest until she found what the text said about it.

"Reactivate Cybertron's core?" RC parroted the screen in awe. She scrolled through more of the text.

"I couldn't really care less who has them," RC said to herself, "but if I had to choose..." she continued, suddenly unsure. "I'd rather red and blue have it."

She plopped down on the chair that was bolted down in front of the monitor and looked around the ship, trying to figure out what her next move should be. She could just ignore everything and not have to worry about any interference.

But she was an Autobot, formerly-at least, but she was still a warrior. Sitting around, doing nothing was simply against her nature.

"Might as well help the winning team," she muttered, standing up. Surveying the large ship again, an idea came to her as she saw the protoform chambers.

"And I know just how to do it," she added with a half smile.


End file.
